'Good intentions, but with good results'

By NICHOLAS LEDDEN

Big Brother pioneer reflects on rewards of local program

The Daily Inter Lake

Thirty years ago, Lakeside resident Bill Harris was instrumental in founding the Kalispell affiliate of the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program.

But it wasn't until last month that Harris was named the 2007 Big Brother of the Year for the entire state of Montana.

"I see that reward, really, as representing all the Big Brothers across the state," Harris said modestly.

Middle-aged and already finished raising daughters of his own, Harris has a quietly confident, almost understated manner that exudes a strong concern for others.

And even though Harris helped launch the Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate in Flathead County, he didn't become a Big Brother himself until about nine years ago.

"I didn't become actively involved until I retired," said Harris, who spent 25 years working as a psychologist in Western Montana mental health facilities.

After volunteering, Harris was quickly matched with an 8-year-old Somers boy who lost his father when he was 3.

That boy, Tanner, is now 17.

"It doesn't seem like it's been that long," said Harris, who over the years has built a close relationship with Tanner. "He's part of my history and I'm part of his. He's now almost my height, but I still refer to him as Little Brother."

Harris has said a Big Brother's experience is like being able to see the world through the eyes of an 8-year-old, said Tanner, now a junior at Bigfork High School.

Through the years, the pair have gone hunting, taken fishing trips, found sledding hills, watched movies, and spent countless hours in conversation. Harris has been present for all the milestones of Tanner's life, including school plays, graduations, and that teen rite of passage - the driver's license.

"I find that that these days he's calling me as much as I'm calling him, which is nice," said Harris.

Harris and Tanner both say their relationship is mutually informative and evolving. Both have things to teach other. For example, Harris taught Tanner foosball. Now the student has surpassed the master.

"Over time I've gotten really good and he hasn't been able to beat me for two years," said Tanner, a well-spoken tow-haired youth who has nothing but enthusiastic things to say about Harris and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.

The Flathead County Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate was founded in the late 1970s when Harris and two other men - Joel Haugesteun, an assistant pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, and Alden Beller, director of special services for the Kalispell school district - recognized the county's need for a mentoring program.

"There wasn't any formalized program like that at the time," Harris said.

So Harris, Haugesteun, and Beller approached the Big Brothers Big Sisters program's national headquarters in Philadelphia about founding a local affiliate and began canvassing area service groups for volunteers.

"What we were looking for was an organization or group of organizations that would take that on and provide some seed money," said Harris.

In the program's first year, directors launched a campaign to find reliable, responsible and conscientious volunteer mentors.

"You have to take great care and consideration to match children with volunteers," said Harris, noting that the program typically requires a one-year commitment. "It's not a one-time, flash-in-the-pan thing. It's a relationship developed over time."

Today, about 100 Flathead Valley children are matched with either a Big Brother or Big Sister, Harris said. Some of the "Bigs" meet their "Littles" in a school setting; others meet out in the community.

There are still about 50 area children waiting to be matched with mentors, 90 percent of whom are boys, according to Harris. Harris' Little Brother, Tanner, sat on a waiting list for two years before a volunteer was found to mentor him.

"There's more need than there is assistance, but it's a productive program," Harris said.

"Bigs" serve as tutors, coaches, guides, friends, confidants and advocates for their "Littles," said Harris, not as probation officers, foster parents or therapists. The program is activity-based, proactive, and relationship-oriented - not academic, he added.

Still, a 1992 study conducted by Public/Private Ventures, a Philadelphia-based national research organization, found that after just 18 months of spending time with their "Bigs," Little Brothers and Sisters were 46 percent less likely to using drugs, 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol, 52 percent less likely to skip school, and one-third less likely to hit someone.

Volunteers, who undergo a screening process and background check, are carefully matched with their "Littles."

Big Brothers Big Sisters staff members then hold orientation sessions, oversee each relationship, and raise money to keep the nonprofit afloat.

"I think it's fair to say it's a program not only with good intentions but with good results," said Harris.

Founded in 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters is the oldest and largest mentoring program in the United States. It operates in all 50 states and several foreign countries.

For more information on becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister in the Flathead Valley, call 752-0092. The program's offices are located at 137 Main St. in Kalispell.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com