Big Brothers Big Sisters seeks mentors for 17 boys waiting in Helena area

Seventeen boys in the Helena area are waiting for Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors, and the wait can stretch three to six months before a child is matched with an adult who can show up week after week.

That gap matters because the program is built around consistency, not one-time outings. Four years ago, Emily Kroll and Ariyah Maroney were paired through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Montana, and their relationship has grown through skiing, bowling and learning to ride a two-wheel bike. Their example shows how the program reaches beyond fun activities and into the routines that build trust, confidence and stability for a child who may be dealing with problems at home or in school.

The shortage is most visible in Helena, where the organization says it needs more adult men willing to make a recurring commitment. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America says becoming a Big generally takes about an hour a week and depends on consistency and listening, but even that modest ask can be hard to fill in a county the size of Lewis and Clark County, which covers about 3,458.4 square miles and has a population of about 75,129. In a spread-out place like that, finding the right volunteer and keeping the match going can take time.

The need is not just about keeping a child busy after school. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America says its one-to-one mentoring model has been operating for more than a century, and a January 2025 research release found mentored youth were associated with greater higher-education enrollment, increased salaries, reduced dependence on social services and better behavioral outcomes. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention says mentoring can improve self-esteem, academic achievement and peer relationships while reducing substance misuse, aggression, depressive symptoms and delinquent acts.

A 2025 RAND report added another layer to the issue, finding that many boys and young men lack an adult male to turn to for help with school or relationships, with the shortage more pronounced in lower-income families. That makes the current waitlist in Helena more than a staffing problem. It is a sign of how hard it can be to connect boys with a stable adult presence before small struggles become larger ones.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Montana has been working to expand that reach. The Helena agency began in 1967, the Great Falls agency began in 1974, the two merged in 2015 and were renamed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Montana in 2021. The organization received Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s 2023 Platinum Award and said it served 173 children in Montana the previous year, with a goal of serving 300 kids by 2026.