How to apply
To become a Big Brother or Sister or get more info, call (513)867-1227 or (513) 424-3397. You can also apply online at www.bbbsbutlercounty.com/becomeabig.
You will be asked to provide three references, participate in an in-person interview and orientation and undergo a background check.
To enroll your child as a Little, visit www.bbbsbutlercounty.com/enroll.
»Tell us about your mentors at MiddletownJournal.com
MIDDLETOWN — Jessica Parrish dropped out of Princeton High School, earned her General Equivalency Diploma, bounced around from city to city, from boyfriend to boyfriend, and never planted roots.
Now 28, the mother of three works full-time and struggles to spend enough time with her children. She registered Kaitlyn Parrish, 9, Elizabeth Parrish, 8, and Logan Adams, 7, for the mentoring program at Big Brothers Big Sisters, and she hopes someone can provide them the necessary guidance.
“They have been through so much,” Parrish said recently while sitting in a home on Seventeenth Avenue that belongs to her boyfriend’s mom. “They need somebody to look up to.”
She paused, glanced toward the bedroom where the children were playing, and added: “I don’t want them to end up like me. They need a positive influence.”
Not a miracle worker. Just a mentor.
She worries that Logan, with two older sisters, but no brother or father, won’t learn the skills only a man can teach.
“He’s around nothing but women,” his mother said. “I can care for my girls, but I need somebody to show him how to be a boy, how to become a man.”
Logan said he wants someone to help him color — “Sometimes I get out of the lines” — and play video games.
Parrish said her two daughters, especially Kaitlyn, the oldest one, need someone to “let them be kids every once in a while.”
Kaitlyn’s wish: A friend to play with, and help her with her math.
“I can do only so much by myself,” said Parrish, a machinist at Georgia Pacific.
The children attend Rosa Parks Elementary School, and they recently moved in with Carolyn Maxberry, mother of Parrish’s boyfriend, Demetrius Maxberry.
Parrish called the safe, home environment her “sanity blanket” and the “best thing” to every happen to her.
“Now I have people on my side,” she said.
She wants the same for her children.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-28
42
or
r
mccrabb
@coxohio.com.
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