Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Virginia’s Mission is to provide children facing adversity with one-to-one mentoring relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. This is a proven and shown by better performance in school and avoidance of violence and illegal activities.
However, these outcomes do not happen overnight. Bigs have the most impact on Littles when they are matched for one year or more. Shawn Utt understands exactly what it means to build a mentoring relationship over time. He is a consistent and caring role model in Little Brother Joseph’s life.
Joseph had many problems in school in 2012. He found himself in the principal’s office weekly, and his report cards showed D’s and F’s. Big Brother Shawn and Little Brother Joseph were matched in 2012 and have spent the past 3 years building their friendship. Joseph has not received a single disciplinary action since being matched with Shawn, and he brought home his first straight A report card this past year. During their time together, Shawn and Joseph research careers in engineering and video game design. Shawn tries to expose Joseph to new experiences and ideas that could trigger a passion, career path, or hobby.
It is easy to see how Shawn has changed Joseph’s life for the better, forever.
Pulaski County and Town of Pulaski (Shawn is the Town Manager) and all of our citizens are honored to have Shawn as a local leader.
