For one hour a week, six children from local schools are being mentored by police officers in a Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) program not offered anywhere else in Canada.
BBBS Centre Wellington is piloting the Bigs in Blue mentoring program, pairing five Wellington County OPP officers with six students from Victoria Terrace and John Black public schools.
BBBS vice president Lisa Bloor, whose husband is a Wellington County OPP officer, wanted to set up a program to bring the two parties together to benefit children.
She submitted a proposal, with the help of Constable Bob Bortolato, to the OPP in February. It was approved in April.
Officers then had to go through a long vetting process, including police checks and lengthy interviews. The children were selected in September by teachers, the principal and school resource workers – and the program is now finally in full swing.
“We have so many kids that really could use a mentoring opportunity because of something that’s going on in their life at home, or if they just need a little bit of guidance – all different kinds of reasons,” said Bloor.
She added she wanted to start the program because she has seen how BBBS changes lives.
Bloor had also volunteered for the food bank, where she “saw kids involved in situations that were so beyond their control and I noticed that a lot of the kids sort of got into the mindset that this was their life.
“Kids were getting excited at the age of 17 or 18 about getting to come to the foodbank for their own food.”
She added, “When I really started getting involved with BBBS and I started listening to the stories of the kids that were talking about through mentoring their mind changed about what their future held and, I mean I started to cry it was so touching …
“The kids used to be excited about being food bank recipients and now they’re talking about what they can be with their life,” said Bloor.
OPP Constable Kelly Krpan, one of the Wellington County officers involved with Bigs in Blue, said she has always been involved in mentoring, so the program was a great fit for her.
“When I heard (about it) I said, ‘Absolutely, sign me up,’” she said.
Krpan, a “big”, is very happy about her match to her “little”, what BBBS calls a child in the program. She said during their hour together each week, they play games, do crafts, make food, and “his whole little world right then and there centred around him.”
She added, “Thankfully he really likes me as much as I really like him”
Bloor explained there were concerns at first about the potential negative stigma attached to police officers visiting with one child.
“One of the principals said, and it was a concern of ours as well, when the officers first went into the schools, we were a little bit worried that other kids will see the officers coming in and dealing with the child as being a negative,” said Bloor.
“We were a little bit worried about the stigma, but in fact, not only have the kids taken it in stride, there’s actually a waiting list of kids who would like to be matched with officers for the next term.”
So far, the pilot program is doing well, and Bloor said she hopes to expand it if it continues, noting there is also a waiting list of officers wanting to join.
“This is groundbreaking,” said Bloor.
“A far as we’re aware, Wellington County OPP are the first police service in Canada that have signed up for a program like this. It’s precedent setting.
“I think it’s fantastic,” she added.
For both Bloor and Krpan, the best part of the program is building relationships between the children and the officers in the community.
“It’s nice to see kids trust police,” said Bloor.
“[Krpan] now knows that her ‘little’ will always be able to call her, even when the match is done.”
The program runs for 16 weeks during the year, but BBBS is always looking for volunteers.
For more information about BBBS Centre Wellington visit www.bigbrothersbigsisters.ca/centrewellington.
