By Ian Gustafson

There For Eachother

Big Brothers and Big Sisters staying connected during pandemic

Jul 3, 2020 | 1:00 PM

After many months of virtual meetups, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Prince Albert are ready to allow their mentors and young girls and boys to meet up again this summer.

Since late June, they are allowing their matches to meet if they want to, but development coordinator Natasha Thomson said most are still meeting virtually and some plan to start meeting again in the summer.

“The main thing was that their developmental relationships have continued through this time, which is actually a critical time to support these youth through the stress of isolation,” Thomson said.

The organization has also offered crisis support for the youth’s families throughout the pandemic.

The developmental relationship is meant to help young people grow resilience. Because they were able to still talk virtually, Thomson said it had a positive impact on their mental health.

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According to Thomson, mentors do five main things for their little sister or brother. They express care, challenge growth, provide support, share power, and expand possibilities. As well as find activities of mutual interest and learn from each other.

“We know that it’s been a stressful time for everyone, but we are continuing, and we are still accepting volunteer applications,” Thomson said

Jenna Gobeil-Aiken has been matched mentoring 15-year-old Samantha since 2017. Gobeil-Aiken said she is there for Samantha to help her with everyday life, adding Samantha also just got her first job.

“Just encouraging her to make her own income and work for the things she wants and deserves,” Gobeil-Aiken told paNOW. “Just someone she can confide in I guess for anything. Just a big sister basically.”

The two haven’t been able to see each other since the pandemic began and she said there have been some challenges. One of the challenges was dealing with all the cancellations and shutdowns.

“There wasn’t anything open for us to do so it made it really challenging to go and actually do stuff,” she said. “We used to go bowling and go swimming and stuff like that.”

During the pandemic, they call each other to keep up with how they’re doing.

“Whenever things came up, I would just update her and like ask her how she’s doing basically,” she explained.

The two are excited to eventually meet up once again this summer now that they have permission.

“We were actually just planning on doing something this summer. My parents have a farm out by Meath Park and so she really wants to come out and go quadding,” she said. “We’re happy that we have each other and we’re so close that if she needs anything, she’s not afraid to call me.”

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Main photo cutline: A new activity from Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince Albert called “lets Rock.” (Submitted photo/ Natasha Thomson)

Ian.gustafson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @iangustafson12