By Hattie Hartschuh
One thing that I have learned over the years is that home is where you make it. Ten years ago, I graduated from Wynford High School and moved 900 miles away from Crawford County. I soon found that being so far from home was not an easy thing. I remember calling my mom one night when I was feeling particularly homesick and the advice that she gave me has stuck with me to this day. She said “Honey, you need to make home where you are. You need to invest yourself into your community.”
From that point on, I looked at things differently. I became more involved with church, city sports leagues, college organizations, I fostered dogs for the local animal shelter, and I became a Big Sister through the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. All of these activities were rewarding, but none so much as being a Big Sister. I was matched with Danielle my freshman year in college, when she was 12 years old. She was quiet, had a difficult home life, and struggled in school. I was busy working three part-time jobs and being a full-time student. I tried to meet with her every other week or so and it wasn’t hard for us to find things to do. We would watch movies, go for walks, ride horses, go grocery shopping together, I would cook dinner from time to time, and we talked about anything and everything. We were able to do all of these things on a college kid budget. Usually, dinner at my house consisted of mac’n’cheese or ramen noodles. What she needed most was just to have someone who was there for her. I told her that she was beautiful and important. I told her that I was proud of her. On a few occasions, I helped her with her homework. Even though I wasn’t always available, she knew I was just a phone call away.
Over the 6 years that we were matched through the program we faced a few challenges, but looking back it was well worth it. I watched as Danielle grew into a beautiful young lady. I never imagined that being a mentor would have such an amazing effect. I felt like I was making a positive dent in my new “home” community and I needed her just as much as she needed me. Last May, I was lucky enough to be sitting in the auditorium as she accepted her high school diploma. I recently moved back to Crawford County and I keep in touch with Danielle on a fairly regular basis. She is looking at attending community college in the fall and even mentioned becoming a Big Sister herself.
It’s been too long since I’ve called Crawford County my home and I am happy to be back. I am excited to give back to the community that raised me. Things have changed a lot in the last ten years. We don’t really have much for kids to do outside of school anymore. There are more programs available for in-school and community-based mentoring than ever before, and there are more children who would benefit from these programs than ever before. Research conducted through Big Brothers Big Sisters found that after 18 months of spending time with their ‘Bigs’, Little Brothers and Little Sisters were 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs, 27% less likely to begin using alcohol, 52% less likely to skip school, 37% less likely to skip a class, more confident of their performance in school work, one-third less likely to hit someone, and more likely to get along better with their families (data provided by Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Ohio). Mentoring volunteers have a tremendous impact on alcohol and substance abuse prevention. Being a mentor doesn’t take very much time and it doesn’t have to take any money. Shaping young lives is a cheap investment with substantial returns.
What is community to you? Are you proud to call Crawford County your home? If not, then what are you doing to change it? We have the tools to be the solution. If you are interested in becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister, or if you have a child that you would like to enroll in the program, please contact Jim Nicholson, Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Ohio by phone at 419-525-4618 or via email at bbbsnco@aol.com. For more information, feel free to visit their website: www.tobeabig.com
As you finish reading over this article, I would like to leave you with these words of wisdom quoted from Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”