Big Brothers Big Sisters A Youth Program of the Eugene Family YMCA

When I was 8 I lived in Florida and was in the Big Brother Big Sister program. I had a big sister named Anna Gray and she was amazing. It was a very nice thing to have someone be there for me and feel like I had a friend. She was a mentor to me and taught me a lot even at 8 years old. My mother signed me up for the program because she felt it would be good for me to have someone to just hang out with and also have someone there for me through my struggles, when I was 2 I was in a horrible car accident and suffered from a brain injury, through the years I had to fight to feel like I fit in, especially at school and with the trauma of the car accident I always felt a little behind as opposed to the rest of my peers. Having a Big Sister in this program helped me feel not so alone, and feel like I had a friend in this world and like I could talk to someone when no one else understood. When I was 11 my family moved up to Oregon, I am 23 now and am still in contact with Anna.