BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF CENTRAL ARIZONA (BBBSAZ).PDF

Created: 02/08/2018 • Last updated: 03/07/2018
General information
Organization Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona (BBBSAZ)
Contact First name Laura
Contact Last name Capello
Contact e-mail lcapello@bbbsaz.org
Contact phone number 602-393-4128
Address
Street 4745 N. 7th Street
City Phoenix
State AZ
ZIP Code 85014
From what tribe is the Gila River Indian Community
organization requesting the
grant?
Total grant amount request 35,000
1 / 2

The Gila River Indian Community offers multi-year awards. If your organization is
requesting a multi-year grant for this project or program from the Gila River Indian
Community, enter the amount to be requested each year.
Amount
Year 1 (Gila River Indian
35,000
Community Grants Only)
Year 2 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 3 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 4 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
Year 5 (Gila River Indian
Community Grants Only)
2 / 2



Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Cover Sheet
Municipality Information
1. Date of Application: 2/24/2018 (NOTE: Click or use up/down arrow keys to move among
fields)
2. Name of City, Town or County: Maricopa County
3. Mayor (City or Town) or Board of Supervisor’s Chairman (County): Steve Chucri
4. Mailing Address: 301 W. Jefferson Ave, Suite 960
5. City: Phoenix State: Arizona Zip Code: 85003
6. Acknowledgement of Submission by Authorized Municipality Representative:
Typed Name/Title: Zachary Wolfe, Finance Department Signature:
Applicant Information
7. Department/Organization Name: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona (BBBSAZ)
8. Is this a 501c non-profit Organization? No Yes If yes, attach IRS Determination Letter
9. Application Contact Person: Laura Capello Title: President and CEO
10. Phone Number: (602) 393-4128
11. Mailing Address: 4745 North 7th Street, Suite 210
12. City: Phoenix State: Arizona Zip Code: 85014-3667
13. Email Address: lcapello@bbbsaz.org Website Address: www.bbbsaz.org
Project Information
14. Project Name: Big Futures
15. Purpose of Grant: BBBSAZ respectfully requests funding to expand our Big Futures program, a ground-
breaking college and career readiness mentoring initiative for at-risk students, ages 14-19, in Maricopa
County.
16. Priority Funding Area Education
17. Annual amount requested $35,000.00
18. Number of years that funding is 1
requested
19. Total amount requested (annual $35,000.00
amount x number of years)
20. Has your organization received past Yes. Two-year grant of $45,000 ($25,000 in 2013; $20,000 in
funding from GRIC? If yes, list each year 2014).
and amount
21. Geographic area served Maricopa County
For Office Use Only:
Data Entry Receipt Evaluation
Outcome A Approval Recommended/Amount $ A Denial

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Narrative
Please structure your proposal to provide the following information in the order indicated. Provide the narrative
in paragraph form in the text field provided. Please be thorough but strive for brevity.
1. Briefly describe the organization’s history, mission and goals.
Founded in 1955, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona (BBBSAZ) has been creating life changing,
monitored matches between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Littles”) to help children succeed and
thrive in life. We started as a local branch of Big Sisters in Maricopa County; in 1966, a separate Big Brothers
branch was formed. Twenty years later, these two branches merged and formed Valley Big Brothers Big
Sisters. By 2001, our services had expanded throughout Maricopa, Pinal, and Gila Counties, and we were
renamed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona. Through all of our community- and site-based mentoring
programs, we serve more than 1,550 youth, ages 6-18, each year (through Community- and Site-Based
Mentoring, Bigs in Blue, Native American Mentoring, and Big Futures). Most of our children come from single-
parent, low-income households and are vulnerable to risky behaviors.
Since our founding, our mission has been to provide Arizona youth facing adversity with strong and enduring,
professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better. With the help of
parents/guardians, volunteers, and community members, BBBSAZ strives to help each child in our program
achieve higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, educational success, and avoidance of
risky behaviors.
Organizational goals:
*Impact at Scale – Continue to be a culture of learning and continuous improvement. With our robust,
collaborative process for enhancing our model, systems and practices, we are driven by evaluation studies,
outcomes data, and data analysis.
*Intentionality – Align with current demographic trends and respond to the critical needs of the children we
serve. Standardize cultural competency awareness and training for staff and volunteer orientation allowing us
to better serve children and families of color.
*Sustainable Resources – Value our lifelong partners that include parents, children, volunteers, and supporters
who believe in our mission, enabling them to contribute to our sustainability.
*Leadership & Partnership – Recognition is an integral part of community solutions for educational success
and juvenile justice prevention.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
2. If the applying organization is non-municipal or a non-profit 501c, please describe your relationship with
Arizona municipalities including past and present support, whether through partnerships, collaborations,
in-kind contributions, grants, tax-based funding or other. Describe the supporting municipality’s role in
this project. If the applying organization is a municipality governmental sub-division please enter the
text “Not applicable.”
For more than 60 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona has enriched Maricopa County children’s
lives through transformative mentorships. We serve youth throughout all cities in Maricopa County through our
programs - Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Peoria, Tempe, Avondale, Gilbert, and Goodyear, to name a few.
Throughout our history, these communities have assisted in recruiting members from their communities and
have provided funds to match youth with mentors and to support our programs—programs that provide our
children with hope for their future, as they learn from positive adult role models.
For the past several years, BBBSAZ has also been awarded the RICO grant from the Maricopa County
Attorney’s Office. Funds from this grant support drug and gang prevention through mentoring. Helping our
youth stand against drugs and gangs is particularly important in Maricopa County where nearly 20% of 12th
graders responded that they have driven a vehicle under the influence of marijuana in the past 30 days, and
six out of ten Maricopa County 12th graders feel pressured by a peer to join a gang (Arizona Youth Survey
2016).
In addition, we partner with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department to recruit police officers to serve as
mentors for our “Bigs in Blue” Program, which builds bridges and trust between youth, communities, and law
enforcement.
3. Describe the proposed project and planned goals and activities.
BBBSAZ is grateful for your previous investments in our programming, and is respectfully requesting funding
this year to expand our Big Futures program, an innovative college and career readiness mentoring intiative for
Maricopa County youth. Big Futures fills the gap when youth “age out” of our traditional programming at age 18
and provides mentoring focusing on students’ graduation from high school and their progression into
independent, productive citizens. Designed specifically for students ages 14-19 (from freshman through senior
year of high school and beyond), Big Futures brings matches (youth) together with their mentors in cohorts,
which increases match retention and allows youth to connect with other kids who are dealing with the same
obstacles and issues in their lives. Through participating in this program, youth are not only mentored by stable

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
adults, but also build strong relationships with their peers with the same main goal in mind – graduation from
high school.
The goal of Big Futures is to see every participating youth graduate from high school and enrolled in college,
enlisted in the armed services, or gainfully employed by the time they exit the program. The three pillars of
success—Academic, Career, and Life—provide the foundation for Big Futures activities. Matches are provided
with resources and opportunities for college admission, academic financial aid/scholarships, career or
workforce development opportunities, military service, and professional and technical training programs.
Matches participate in group or cohort events quarterly, including college tours, career exploration nights,
resume writing, interviewing skills training, and leadership academies. Participating youth also receive the
opportunity to volunteer in groups, forming life skills and a foundation for giving back to their home
communities.
Best practices state that providing dynamic opportunities using a student’s career interest can increase their
school engagement by 35% (“Dropout Prevention”, Institute of Educational Sciences 2008). In addition,
support from a caring adult can lower a student’s dropout risk by 25% (“Don’t Quit on Me”, America’s Promise
Alliance 2015). Big Futures innovatively combines these practices by capitalizing on a student’s career interest
and connecting them to a mentor who will provide practical and personal support throughout high school and
beyond, focusing on career engagement opportunities, such as exploration fairs, workforce development
opportunities, and technical training.
Anticipated outcomes for the 2018-19 Big Futures program include:
-90% (180) of 200 participating youth will graduate from high school or earn their high school equivalency;
-20% (40) of 20 participating youth will matriculate in a 4-year private or public college;
-50% (100) of 200 participating youth will matriculate in a 2-year community college; and
-8% (16) of 200 participating youth will enlist in the armed services or become gainfully employed.
The impact of our program is illustrated through the following story:
“I became a Big Brother because I read that the waiting list for boys in Phoenix, where I grew up, was too long
to accept new applications and I knew that I had the time to help. I want to make sure that Jeremiah knows that
college is attainable for him and not just a dream. We frequently go to GCU to play basketball so he can feel
comfortable on a college campus. He even sat in on one of my classes so he could experience a college
classroom setting. Jeremiah’s grades have improved dramatically from when we were first matched. Hopefully,
that momentum carries through high school! A college education can open so many more doors for Jeremiah
and I want to make sure he knows it’s within his reach.”

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
~Nick, Big Brother
4. Describe how the proposed project satisfies one or more of the priority funding areas identified by the
Gila River Indian Community.
The Big Futures program supports at-risk students, ages 14-19, as they enter the transformative period
between youth and adulthood through achieving success in their classrooms and life, which aligns with the
following Gila River Indian Community funding priority area:
1. Education
-Assisting students in achieving success in the classroom. In FY 16/17, 86% of youth
participating in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona’s programs improved or maintained
their scholastic competence, and 90% improved or maintained their grades.
-Providing hands-on learning. The Big Futures program offers eight workshops each semester
that focus on building a variety of employment-related skills including resume writing and
interviewing.
-Enhancing students’ general knowledge and promoting life-long learning. As part of the Big
Futures mentoring process, Bigs guide youth toward adulthood readiness as well. This includes
providing basic economic and financial literacy lessons, including budgeting fundamentals. Our
leadership academies also give youth knowledge that they can apply to all areas of their adult
lives.
5. Identify the needs/problems to be addressed, target population and number of people to be served by
the project.
Maricopa County youth continue to face many challenges. The graduation rate is only 86.4%; the college
graduation rate is 29.8%. The majority of the students participating in the Big Futures program are exposed to
multiple risk factors and are on the brink of disaster. They come from broken homes (86%); 64% live in
poverty with annual household incomes under $30,000 (BBBSAZ intake data); 16% have a parent who is in
jail; and they are all at high risk for joining gangs, doing drugs, and engaging in behaviors that could lead to
incarceration. Without adult support and role models, these budding students suffer from low self-esteem,
antisocial behaviors, higher dropout rates, and high rates of truancy, crime, violence, illegal drug use, teen
pregnancy and delinquency.
Maricopa County students participating in Big Futures share known dropout risks including adverse family
structures, poverty, race and ethnicity, language, residence, economic displacement, and gender (“Dropping

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Out of High School: Prevelance, Risk Factors, and Remediation Strategies,” R&D Connections 2012).
Additional data further quantifies the percentage of youth in grades 8-12 who are participating in risky
behaviors. The 2016 Arizona Youth Survey found the following results for 8th grade youth in Maricopa County:
-37% have low community attachment
-35% have a low commitment to school
-33% have friends who use illegal drugs
-20% live in households where parents favor illegal drug use
-10% are gang involved
With support from the Gila River Indian Community we can reverse these long-term cycles for our youth today
and for future generations. Together, we can not only build Big Futures for our children—but better futures as
well.
6. Define the project as a new or continuing program.
Big Futures is a continuing program for students entering 9th grade through high school and beyond in
Maricopa County.
7. Provide a brief timeline including start and finish dates. Indicate if the timeline is flexible.
BBBSAZ’s Big Futures program takes place throughout the academic year on an ongoing basis. If funds are
received from the Gila River Indian Community, the activities outlined in Section 3 of this grant application will
take place during a one-year period.
8. Identify other organizations, partners or funders participating in the project and their roles.
BBBSAZ has more than 50 community partnerships that enhance our programs. Recently, we began
partnering with College Success AZ to help facilitiate our first scholarship program for high school graduates.
We also collaborate with local companies, universities, government agencies, and other nonprofit agencies.
Programming partners include: ASU, Arizona Challenger Center, Arizona Science Center, Arizona Cardinals,
and the Phoenix Suns. BBBSAZ partners with more than 40 Maricopa County public high schools to enroll
students in the Big Futures program. Some of our paricipating high schools include Chandler High School,
Dobson High School, Mountain Pointe High School, McClintock High School, North High School, Central High
School, South Mountain High School, Moon Valley High School, and Carl Hayden High School.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
9. Would you be able to implement the proposed plan if your organization received partial funding for this
project?
Without Gila River Indian Community’s support, BBBSAZ would be able to continue our program, but we would
not be able to reach our goal of empowering more than 200 of Maricopa County’s most vulnerable students to
graduate from high school and grow into productive community members.
10. Describe your plan for project financial sustainability beyond the grant period. If this is a
program/project previously funded by the Gila River Indian Community describe efforts made towards
the previously described sustainability plan.
During our 60-year history, BBBSAZ has created a network of community support for our programs, including
donors and volunteer mentors who provide thousands of volunteer hours each year (worth millions of dollars
annually – Independent Sector Volunteer Rate). We collaborate with cities throughout Maricopa County to
recruit volunteers and receive funds for matches in their specific communities. Our long-term investors that
contribute to project sustainability include Valley of the Sun United Way, Mesa United Way, individual donors,
agency special events, and the BBBS Clothing Donation Center. In order to expand our Big Futures program,
we are actively seeking additional funders and have recently received $10,000 from USAA and $15,000 from
Season for Sharing.
11. Describe your plan to document progress and results.
BBBSAZ prides itself on our long history of providing unparalleled, research-based mentoring programs. We
will document the Big Futures results in the following ways:
-Tracking outcomes and results through BBBSAZ’s online AIM database by measuring the length of the
matches. Research has shown that the longer a match lasts, the more benefit to the youth served. The
success of these outcomes is also indicated within the results of the Youth Outcome Survey (YOS). The YOS
is a 33-question survey created by BBBS of America and measures outcomes in the areas of academics,
relationships, and risky behaviors.
-Our impact is also measured through our Strength of Relationship (SOR) survey. This 15-question tool for
youth and 10-question tool for volunteers is used to help bring about positive outcomes for youth by
determining the strength of the mentoring relationship. The survey is administered at the three-month point and
annually thereafter. The survey measures if, and how closely, matches feel connected.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
-Evaluation measures will include improved and increased follow-up metrics for referrals and enrollments into
education, career, and military career tracks; high school rentention and graduation rates; and attendance at
BBBSAZ Big Future events.
Finally, we will provide interim and final reports in addition to any other information that the Gila River Indian
Community might request.
12. Indicate any application to and/or awards made by a tribe other than the Gila River Indian Community
for state shared revenues for this and any other project for the past five (5) years. If this information is
included in a separate attachment, please indicate that here.
BBBSAZ has not submitted applications for state-shared revenues to other tribes.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Project Budget
Budget Period: 7/1/18 – 6/30/19
For each budget item listed here please provide a narrative description on the following Project Budget Detail
page.
Proposed Budget Expense Amount Amount In Kind Total Budget
(list each budget item) requested from requested or contributions
GRIC secured from
other funders
1. Salaries and Wages $25,000 $84,926 $0 $109,926
2. Taxes and Benefits $5,000 $32,687 $0 $37,687
3. Rent/Utilities/Phone $0 $15,435 $0 $15,435
4. Travel $1,500 $1,500 $0 $3,000
5. Supplies and Match Events $3,500 $4,500 $0 $8,000
6. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
7. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
8. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
9. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
10. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
11. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
12. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
13. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
14. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
15. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
16. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
17. Click here to enter text. $0 $0 $0 $0
Total Budget $35,000 $139,048 $0 $174,048

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
Project Budget Detail
Please provide a narrative description for each of the project budget items listed on the previous page. Include
the dollar figure and how it was derived.
1. Program Staff Salaries - As shown in the budget, the agency’s primary cost is for the salary of staff to run
the program. Part of what makes BBBSAZ the most effective mentoring program is the professional support
provided to all matches, ensuring that matches are lasting and impactful. A portion of the time of several
different staff members will be utilized to run this project. BBBSAZ Program staff enroll, match, and support
youth and mentors for the duration of the match relationship. They check in with youth and mentors to make
sure the match is going smoothly. They also work with youth’s families and refer them to other community
agencies for their other immediate and basic needs needs (food banks, shelters, job training programs, etc.).
The total for this line item is $109,926.
2. Taxes and Benefits for Program Staff. The total for this line items is $37,687.
3. Rent/Utilities/Phone: Phone lines and internet for program staff to contact youth, parents, and mentors to
ensure the match is progressing well; Occupancy costs for program staff who manage the program and meet
with potential mentors and families. Total for this line item is $15,435.
4. Staff travel to and from outreach events and enrollment appointments to meet with youth and mentors at the
schools. The total amount for this line item is $3,000.
5. Program Supplies and Match Events: The total amount for this line item for program supplies and match
events is $8,000.
6. Click here to enter text.
7. Click here to enter text.
8. Click here to enter text.
9. Click here to enter text.
10. Click here to enter text.
11. Click here to enter text.
12. Click here to enter text.
13. Click here to enter text.

Gila River Indian Community Grant Application
Grant Cycle 2018
14. Click here to enter text.
15. Click here to enter text.
16. Click here to enter text.
17. Click here to enter text.
Other explanation: Click here to enter text.

“I became a Big Brother because I read that the waiting list for boys in Phoenix, where I grew
up, was too long to accept new applications and I knew that I had the time to help. I want to
make sure that Jeremiah knows that college is attainable for him and not just a dream. We
frequently go to GCU to play basketball so he can feel comfortable on a college campus. He
even sat in on one of my classes so he could experience a college classroom setting.
Jeremiah’s grades have improved dramatically from when we were first matched. Hopefully,
that momentum carries through high school! A college education can open so many more
doors for him and I want to make sure he knows it’s within his reach.”
Nick, Big Brother