In addition to honoring its existing Latinx Big Brothers and Big Sisters (mentors) during National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15 – Oct. 15), Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters is looking to recruit even more Latinx mentors for its youth mentoring programs.
One of Nutmeg’s current Latinx mentors is Big Brother Jonathan Solano from New Britain, who’s the Director of Service Delivery at Voya Financial. Jonathan has been matched for a bit less than a year with Little Brother (mentee) Javan Silva, also from New Britain. When they haven’t been engaged in activities like kayaking, indoor rock climbing, and roller skating, Jonathan and Javan have been getting the word out about Nutmeg needing more Latinx “Bigs”, “Littles” and mentees in its life-changing program.
Big Brother Jonathan and Little Brother Javan are pictured together in the cover photo.
For more information, visit the Nutmeg website: www.nbbbs.org.
Earlier this year, CTLatinoNews.com profiled another Big Brother, Pablo Figueroa, a resident of Hartford who was recognized as Big Brother of the Year by Nutmeg.
“I was inspired to be a Big Brother because of how other generous people helped me stay on the right path”, said Figueroa remembering a baseball coach and high school teacher. “They helped me stay away from gangs and pursue a higher education.”
SUGGESTION: Pablo Figueroa: Nutmeg Big Brother of the Year
Andy Fleischmann, President, and CEO of Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters (NBBBS) of Connecticut shared insights on the youth mentoring program and how people can be a “Bigs” volunteer on the Latino News Network’s “3 Questions With…” podcast.
“If we have a family that is puertorriqueño (as an example), that has a boy who is being mentored,” said Fleischmann about the importance of pairing mentors and mentees of similar ethnic and cultural backgrounds. “The mother may say to us, ‘It’s very important for me that there be a strong puertorriqueño male who is the role model for my child.’ And if that’s the message we receive, we try and respect that.”
