Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee

I’ve been a big sister with BBBS for over 5 years. They are a great organization that cares about their matches and making a difference in young peoples lives. I would recommend them to anyone and have only good things to say!

Phenomenal organization. Yes they are understaffed with a long waiting list, but they are not the only game in town, reach out to your local church to see if they can hook you up with a good mentor for your child if they are in great need. Being a Big has changed my life, my Little is so strong and so kind after all she has been through. I can't recommend getting involved highly enough.

5 years ago I felt compelled to make a difference in helping teens avoid bad decisions and make a successful transition to adulthood. I realized that a mentorship was the most effective method for me. I signed up with BBBS and went through their interview and training process. It was thorough, but I respected them for it. I've now been matched with a "Little" for over 4 years. He's about to graduate from high school and go to college. I couldn't be more happy with BBBS, the staff, and the programs they put in place. Every interaction has been positive. They sincerely have a heart for this cause. They give you the support to succeed and encouragement to feel competent in your Match. They produce a constant supply of resources, events, and information to make this a rewarding experience for both you and your Little. They always need volunteers for a variety of opportunities and I would passionately encourage anyone to give them a call.

Being a big sister has been the most rewarding experience of my life. Seeing the growth and progress in my little sisters life is such a gift. BBBS works tirelessly to not only match littles with bigs, but to facilitate existing matches as well. The work they do is very thankless, but I see first hand what this program has done and will continue to do in the future.

Because ZERO stars isn't an option.... After contacting BBBS of MT simply for information (not to necessarily enroll), I was told that I should attend an orientation. The schedule conflicted with my work scheduled and I was only to be excused if workload persists. Well it didn't. I contacted the rep mid day to inform her. I was then given a very long wait for the next available local opening. (My son needs this like yesterday). So I agreed to an open spot for much sooner orientation, but almost 60 miles away from my home (because I'm a desperate mother, right?) Well, unfortunately, I faced a critical emergency that day and again, shot the rep an email well beforehand. Here's where they lost me... She responds and tells me that policy is that, if I can't make it to orientation twice, I'm not allowed to apply for 6 months. But she will give me one more chance... HA!! reeeally?? lol So this program that is designed to serve the community will actually ban you. block you. whatever. Not because anything awful. Not because there is a 6 month wait. Nope. Just a penalty... Simply because you need to reschedule. This is a JOKE and it caused me to stop and think, do I really want to entrust my child to a place that operates like this?? Who knows what other ridiculous "policies" they have. I'd already heard rather negative things about them anyway... It's a no for me. I'll gladly find a less demanding avenue.....

Thanks for all that you have done and are doing I've nominated your company for an award through the Big Fish radio station

Love this organization ❤️... want to make change to our future, be a BIG.

5 years ago I felt compelled to make a difference in helping teens avoid bad decisions and make a successful transition to adulthood. I realized that a mentorship was the most effective method for me. I signed up with BBBS and went through their interview and training process. It was thorough, but I respected them for it. I've now been matched with a "Little" for over 4 years. He's about to graduate from high school and go to college. I couldn't be more happy with BBBS, the staff, and the programs they put in place. Every interaction has been positive. They sincerely have a heart for this cause. They give you the support to succeed and encouragement to feel competent in your Match. They produce a constant supply of resources, events, and information to make this a rewarding experience for both you and your Little. They always need volunteers for a variety of opportunities and I would passionately encourage you to give them a call.

Did you know that for every match that Big Brothers / Big Sisters of Middle TN makes it costs them more money ongoing? They're one of the few non-profits where the more people that get involved the more it costs to run. Those dollars go to make sure the kids are not trapped in some nightmare situation, do background checks on potential matches, personal interviews, crisis intervention, matching, events, match specialists, etc... BBBS spends quite a bit of money for each successful matchup they have. I've been in the program now entering my third year. In this time I've had (and still have) one little brother, and I'm now on my third of fourth match support specialist (one moved away, one because my little changed schools) and each one of them seems to take this as more than just a job. If you've got a few bucks to spare and are looking for some place to invest in the future, I can't promise that every dollar is going to the right place, but a decent enough percentage appears to be. If you've got some time to commit and are looking to make a change in someone's life, you might be interested in getting in their programs. Be aware it's a commitment, you're not guaranteed to be matched and sadly there are an abundance of Big Sisters who will not be matched as there are not a whole lot of little sisters and too many little brothers think big sisters are icky. Sadly it's how the game goes. (Big Sisters can be matched with boys or girls, Big Brothers as far as I know are matched with boys only) They have a couple of distinct options for mentoring, a community and a site-based option. Site-based is you come to a school and visit, Community is after school / out in the world. I spent 2 years doing in-school and now do both while my little is out of school. It's been a good experience for me as a BB. There are things I'd like to change about it for my particular situation, but in general I think they're doing just about as good as they can for everyone. So yeah, that's my review - decent place to volunteer time or donate some money.

The most awful experience ever... After being in the program for over 2 years, my son was finally matched with someone. The worst nightmare! The guy was a liar and for whatever reason, could not commit to his obligation to my son. He would text and say he would come and do something with my son and not followup. During a whole summer, he only took my son 3 times and 2 of those times were things that I had to suggest for him to do. The last time I heard from this guy, he had planned something for he and my son to do, but my son was in summer camp so I told him that he could pick him up, but because they were swimming that day, he wouldn't be back until 4:00pm. This idiot says, oh I guess I could push my trip back for a wedding he had to go to out of town. He never really had any intention to take him anywhere. Just wanted it to appear that he was going to do something. The case worker was even worse, she thought that she could manipulate and cover for him instead of getting rid of him from the start, they boot my son out of the program with no explanation why or anything.