About Us

Our Mentoring Programs Work

National research has shown that positive relationships between youth and their mentors have a direct and measurable impact on children’s lives. Local Research shows that the kids with a Mentor show real differences in their personal and academic lives. Here in North Central Ohio, an evaluation is done every year.  Last year the following is what was reported by our volunteers and parents about the kids in our program:

• 84% of the children were reported to have increased their self-confidence
• 83% were said to be able to express thier feelings better
• 86% were reported to be able to show more trust toward their parent and volunteer
• 66% had a better attitude toward school
• 58% actually increased thier school performance
• 60% got along better with their peers and families

Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring (formerly known as Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Ohio) has been providing youth mentoring services for the past 22 years.  We feel these years have brought us much knowledge and understanding of how changing and evolving is the best way to meet the needs of today’s youth.

Local History

Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring has provided service to Youth in this area for years.

Our Mission has been the same over time: to provide quality volunteer and professional services to assist at-risk youth in achieving their highest potential as they grow to become responsible adults, and to avoid more expensive and less effective treatments in the future.

Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring was incorporated as Big Brothers Big Sisters in August 1998 and was granted 501(c)3 status as a non-profit agency.  We received provisional membership in the National Big Brothers Big Sisters Agency, and opened our office at the Friendly House in Mansfield, Ohio on January 4th 1999.  We are now a designated member of the United Way.  Our board of trustees is committed to strengthen this agency as the primary youth mentoring agency in the North Central Ohio service area.. 

Our Agency actually started in 1970, as a program of the Family Services of North Central Ohio.  This United Way agency merged with the local Mansfield Area Guidance Center and our program was brought along into the new Center for Individual and Family Services in 1975.  Our program ran there until 1994 with some funds from the United Way through the Center. The Center terminated the program in 1995, and we were adopted by the Volunteers of America of North Central Ohio. The program applied for provisional affiliation with the National Big Brothers Big Sisters Agency in 1995 and hoped to gain full affiliation within three years.  In 1998 the Volunteers of America had undergone many internal changes and chose not to affiliate with the National Big Brothers Big Sisters Agency. It was at this point in time Big Brothers Big Sisters decided to form our own agency.

The Friendly House stepped forward to offer us office space and served as our fiscal agency until our start up grant from the Richland County Foundation and our 501(c)3 status were in place.  We continue to depend on the Friendly House in this cooperative venture.  We continue to bring our high quality mentoring programs to our communities now with the name Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring.

We are excited to be able to continue to provide quality, professionally supported mentoring to the youth of our community.  We are a member of National Mentor Resource Center, Mentoring.org, and National Mentoring Institute for best practices.

Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring time-line

• 1970 – 1975 Mentoring through Family Services of North Central Ohio
• 1975 – 1995 Mentoring at the Center for Individual and Family Services
• 1995 – 1999 Volunteers of America sponsored youth mentoring agency
• 1999 – 2007 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Richland County
• 2007 – 2018 Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Central Ohio
• 2018 – forward Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring