A mentor can change the course of a child’s life in profound ways. On tonight’s Smart Talk, we’ll focus on several community mentoring programs that steer children on a path to good health and success. It’s part of WITF’s Real Life Real Issues series. Our guests include Maddie Young, CEO of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, and Kevin Gibson, mentor with Hope in Handball.

By day, Kevin is an asset manager of the state House Republicans’ IT program. A few years ago, he teamed up with David Botero, a local marketing and ad executive, and put their competitive spirit and concern for kids into action. “Not only did we share a love for the sport, but we also shared a desire to raise its awareness and get more people, especially youth, involved in the game,” Kevin recalls.  “In 2008, Dave started playing indoor 4-wall handball, and soon got me into it. That sparked a new idea in Dave's mind. We talked about how during the winter, the kids, even the ones who play handball, would be idle, so we can introduce them to the indoor 4-wall game. This way, handball, a perfect alternative to the negative lifestyles that they face, can be utilized all year round as a vehicle for character building.”

They secured a grant from Messiah College and started Hope in Handball at the Harrisburg YMCA with about a half dozen children from the Allison Hill area of Harrisburg. It has since grown to more than 10 mentors and more than 20 kids, ages 9-17, from various city neighborhoods and backgrounds. Kevin will share some of the mentoring lessons he and the children have learned.

Big Brothers Big Sisters has a proud, 100-year history of service. BBBS is classified as a “Blueprint” model for mentoring. It has been proven to reduce adolescent violent crime, aggression, delinquency and substance abuse. Governor Tom Corbett and First Lady Susan Corbett visited BBBS of the Capital Region as part of their Inauguration Day festivities.  The organization’s fact sheet says it best, “Big Brothers Big Sisters one-to-one mentoring goes beyond being well-intentioned and warm-hearted. It has undergone a century of rigorous testing and research-driven development and has been evaluated in randomized control studies – the gold standard of research.

“The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) has identified Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring as having a savings for the state in reduced future corrections costs, reduced burdens on welfare and other social services, decreased costs in drug and mental health treatment, and increased employment and tax revenues.

“Independent research has shown Little Brothers and Little Sisters are:

• 46% less likely to use drugs.

• 27% less likely to use alcohol.

• 52% less likely to skip school.

• 37% less likely to skip class.

“These behaviors increase the likelihood of involvement in the juvenile justice system – a costly proposition in Pennsylvania – where the average annual cost for one adjudicated youth placed in a juvenile detention facility is $130,149.  Conversely, the average annual cost to provide a child with a Big Brother or Big Sister is $1,200.

Maddie Young will bring those numbers into human focus on our program.  Is there a mentor who helped guide your life? Tell us about him or her. Please join the conversation live at 8:00 tonight by calling 1-800-729-7532 or send us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or post a comment to www.facebook.com/witf.org.