{"id":28040,"date":"2024-04-22T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/big-brothers-big-sisters-of-sw-colorado-celebrates-40-years-of-helping-local-children\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T00:19:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:19:28","slug":"big-brothers-big-sisters-of-sw-colorado-celebrates-40-years-of-helping-local-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/big-brothers-big-sisters-of-sw-colorado-celebrates-40-years-of-helping-local-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Brothers Big Sisters of SW Colorado celebrates 40 years of helping local children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Paul
Paul Plvan, executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado, and his &#x201c;Little,&#x201d; Cruz Patterson, 6, get some rides in at the Durango BMX Park.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Colorado turned 40 years old last week.<\/p>\n

The organization has spent nearly half a century mentoring youths across the region, and the group celebrated that milestone last week at River Bend Ranch.<\/p>\n

Executive Director Jenn Bartlett has been with the program since 2009, starting off as one of the organization\u2019s adult mentors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think right now, where we\u2019re at \u2013 just over the last few years \u2013 we\u2019re in a really good, sustainable place. We\u2019re looking forward to being able to serve youth really for another 40 years,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n

The organization had to adapt its methods throughout its history in order to keep pace with technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had to really pivot and respond to the different environmental factors that are going on around the community and around the world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She also said human connection has changed because of technology, and the organization had to find a way to embrace this advancement.<\/p>\n

Big Brothers Big Sisters has long been known for its one-on-one, community-based program, which offers adult mentors for children.<\/p>\n

However, Bartlett said the organization\u2019s program where high school students mentor elementary school students has really helped Southwest Colorado children embrace human connection in a world filled with screens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe different program models that we\u2019re really looking to continue to deliver and to develop as new programs too. But ultimately, all of these programs have one common thread which is that human connection from a positive person in their (the kids\u2019) life,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n

For many organizations, it\u2019s considered a success to make it to 40 years old. Bartlett said it\u2019s been a team effort.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mentors are key. They\u2019re the key components to being able to keep the organization sustainable. They do that hard work directly with the kids,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n

Sherry Exum-Peterson has been a mentor just over a year now.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy intentions were to help somebody, thinking it was kids that needed kind of a parent figure. But the little girl I have doesn\u2019t need a parent figure. She\u2019s awesome. She\u2019s just amazing,\u201d Exum-Peterson said.<\/p>\n

The two even help learn each other\u2019s languages. The child Exum-Peterson is mentoring speaks Spanish as their first language. Exum-Peterson says that helps her stay in touch with the younger generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to selfishly kind of prepare myself for my own family as well as helping somebody else,\u201d Exum-Peterson said. \u201cShe helps me and we just have a ball together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Bartlett wants to prioritize the sustainability of the organization.<\/p>\n

Bartlett said staff and board members are working on growth strategies on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that, I think we\u2019re going to be able to take that stabilization and be able to grow outward and ensure that, every community in Southwest Colorado has given the opportunity to their kids to be able to connect with a positive role model in their life,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n

The organization is working to recruit more mentors, and Bartlett says anyone can make a great mentor.<\/p>\n

Exum-Peterson said that anyone thinking about helping children should apply.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mentor is someone that could just show up and just simply be with the kids,\u201d Bartlett said.<\/p>\n

Exum-Peterson said the experience has been rewarding because it\u2019s shown her that help is often reciprocated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis group of people in Big Brothers Big Sisters, they know what they\u2019re doing. I have so much respect for the process that they take,\u201d Exum-Peterson said.<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Executive director says the organization has evolved over time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2240,431,155,28,1269],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-28040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-big-brothers-big-sisters","tag-business-general","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-nonprofits"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28040"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80284,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28040\/revisions\/80284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28040"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=28040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}