Company Profile
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin
Company Overview
Our mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.
Company History
Our agency was started in 1972 as a simple conversation between Judge Tom Barland and Attorney Jerry Aubry. They saw a great need for something like the ‘Big Brothers’ program to help boys stay on the right track. Aubrey was put in contact with two social workers (Mike Weiser and Bob Swanson) and the three of them met to try and establish a local organization. They contacted Bob Novotney at Lutheran Social Services and Reverend Zane Torgerud and the five men started an organization called Kinsmen.
The Eau Claire branch worked closely with a Kinsmen agency out of the Twin Cities to start the organization and the first two matches were made around late 1972/early 1973 with Jerry Aubry and John Pakan. Soon after the agency changed its name to Kinship of Eau Claire County in order to serve both boys and girls in Eau Claire. After operating for about a year the organization hired its first staff person, Melva Hisrich, as the Volunteer Coordinator. She developed the paperwork and helped implement the procedures which helped professionalize the agency. From there the organization began to grow serving more children each year.
In 1992, Kinship of Eau Claire County started a 3 year process to be awarded full affiliate status with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America after demonstrating 100% compliance with their 133 Standards and Required Procedures for quality across corporate and program agency management. The name was then changed to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eau Claire County and the agency was chartered to serve a nine county area across northwest central Wisconsin.
Since 1995, the agency has expanded three times.
In 1997 the agency expanded services to include Chippewa and Dunn County and the name was changed to Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Chippewa Valley. Then in 2000 the agency expanded again to include St. Croix and Pierce counties in order to serve the rapidly growing population of the St. Croix Valley. The name was again changed to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin to reflect the new service area.
In 2013, the agency expanded again acquiring the region formally served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Northwoods. Several months of phone conversations, meetings, and assistance from Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, took place for this to happen. In June of 2013, BBBS of the Northwoods officially dissolved as a 501(c)3 and BBBSNW took over the 5 county area and a re-launch took place in those 5 counties: Taylor, Price, Oneida, Vilas, and Ashland Counties.
This was our humble beginning. From a volunteer staff serving a handful of youth in Eau Claire County, we have grown into 20 staff members serving children in 5 counties… Eau Claire, Chippewa, Dunn, Pierce, and St. Croix counties. We currently serve hundreds of children each year in one-to-one mentoring relationships and are a leader in developing and sustaining quality mentoring relationships that change children’s lives for the better, forever.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
Our mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally supported 1-to-1 relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.