The first “Big Brothers” agency was founded in New York in 1904 by a court clerk who had a vision of providing the fatherless youth who returned repeatedly to his courtroom with men who could serve as lifelong mentors. Walt Disney was in the midst of opening Disneyland in 1955 when he and a group of community leaders founded “Big Brothers of Greater Los Angeles” to help ensure the well being of boys growing up without fathers in Los Angeles.  Several years later, “Big Sisters of Los Angeles” was founded under the umbrella of a public social service agency, but became its own organization in 1978.  In order to maximize efficiencies and develop the capacity to serve more disadvantaged youth, the two agencies merged on July 1, 2001 to serve youth in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties.   

The children BBBSGLA serves are among the most economically disadvantaged youth in Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.  Almost 100% of the children in our programs live in a household that is either poor (<100% of the Federal Poverty Level), or low income (<200% of the Federal Poverty Level). Half live in a single parent home with their mother, or with more distant relatives. A growing percentage have an incarcerated parent. They are 46% Latino; 27% African-American; 3% Asian, and 5% identify as multi-ethnic.  Without intervention, the young people we target at best risk academic failure, and at worst gang involvement and entanglement in the juvenile justice system. BBBSGLA serves youth who are otherwise overlooked and not benefiting from existing programs or services in the community. Referrals come from parents, guardians, teachers, social workers, counselors, social service agencies, and even the youth themselves.