Council ActionCITY COUNCIL
ADOPTED
Other recorded action without a published tally.
Official action detail
Source: LegislationDetail.aspx · gridLegislation
Full Bill
WHEREAS, Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania is a nonprofit organization that provides children facing adversity with strong, enduring, and professionally supported one-to-one mentor relationships. The organization serves children who are living in areas with high poverty rates, high incidences of juvenile arrests, homelessness, familial incarceration, and struggling public schools; and
WHEREAS, Charles Edwin Fox, then Assistant District Attorney of Philadelphia, founded the organization in 1915 as a way to help address the problems young boys were facing. Since that time, the program has grown extensively, serving more than 120,000 children in the Greater Philadelphia area; and
WHEREAS, For 100 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania has been helping to break the cycles of incarceration and poverty by providing children with compassionate and caring adult mentors. Its geographic footprint includes Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties where over 6,100 volunteers and children are engaged in mentoring programs; and
WHEREAS, The mentors for Big Brothers Big Sisters can diminish the risk factors children face and make a lasting impact on their lives. Last year, 98 percent of children in the agency’s program advanced to the next grade, avoided being arrested, and avoided using drugs; and
WHEREAS, Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania is the third largest of over 335 agencies nationwide, and voted the number one nonprofit for at-risk youth by Philanthropedia; and
WHEREAS, Over the last Century, Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania has developed a strong reputation for the highest quality of service and expertise in child safety protocols. By steady adherence to the principles of fairness, reliability and integrity, it has become a leader in the community and a model that is worthy of emulation; and
WHEREAS, In 2015, Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania launched the Mentoring Partnership & Resource Center. The new initiative will help over 135 other youth mentoring organizations in the region with capacity building, technical assistance, training and advocacy. It also provides a medium to help the over 200,000 children in need; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby
honor Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern Pennsylvania for 100 years of service to the region.
RESOLVED FURTHER, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to representatives of Big Brothers Big Sisters as further evidence of the sincere respect and admiration of this legislative body.
End