OUR HISTORY
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
For more than a century, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been helping change kids’ perspectives and giving them the opportunity to reach their potential.
It all started in 1904, when a young New York City court clerk named Ernest Coulter was seeing more and more boys come through his courtroom. He recognized that caring adults could help many of these kids stay out of trouble, and he set out to find volunteers. That marked the beginning of the Big Brothers movement.
At around the same time,
the members of a group called Ladies of Charity were befriending girls who had come through the New York Children’s Court. That group would later become Catholic Big Sisters.
Both groups continued to work independently until 1977, when Big Brothers Association and Big Sisters International joined forces and became Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
More than 100 years later, Big Brothers Big Sisters remains true to our founders’ vision of bringing caring role models into the lives of children. And, today, Big Brothers Big Sisters currently operates in all 50 states.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South-Central PA
For over 40 years, we have been the region’s leader in establishing and supporting one-to-one mentoring friendships. And we have more than four decades of volunteers, donors, and advocates just like you to thank.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of South-Central PA was established as part of Catholic Charities in 1981 and in 1983 we became an independent agency, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region.
In 2017 Lancaster County was added to the agency’s established service region of Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon & Perry counties.
In 2024, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region acquired neighboring affiliate Big Brothers Big Sisters of York & Adams Counties. To align with our 7-county service region, we changed our affiliate name to Big Brothers Big Sisters of South-Central PA.
As we approach our 45th year, we reached a significant milestone; we served 1,320 youth in 2024, the greatest number served in a single year in the past two decades.
As we continue to grow, it’s thanks to your support and generosity that we are able fulfill our mission to ignite the power and promise of youth. Each year we reach more youth in need of a friend and mentor to help them reach their full potential. Thank you for being part of our journey.
