Big Brothers / Big Sisters Of Western North Carolina Inc.

Big Brothers / Big Sisters Of Western North Carolina Inc., a tax-exempt nonprofit affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, operates exclusively as a federal grant sub-recipient, delivering AmeriCorps-supported youth mentorship and academic assistance services across eighteen western North Carolina counties.

The organization serves as a sub-recipient under four consecutive AmeriCorps grants awarded by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) through the North Carolina Commission On Volunteerism & Community Service, the prime grantee on all four awards. The grant footprint is consistent and recurring: each award deploys approximately 55 to 60 AmeriCorps members to recruit, train, match, and guide mentors; provide one-on-one and small-group academic assistance; and manage community volunteers who contribute food, clothing, school supplies, and related resources. The service area spans Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey counties.

The organization has received four consecutive awards since August 2022 with consistent annual cycles: August 2022 ($692,732 CNCS investment with $440,346 matching funds, including American Rescue Plan augmentation), August 2023 ($692,732 CNCS investment with $440,346 matching funds and American Rescue Plan augmentation), July 2024, and August 2025. Each grant targets 1,250 low-socioeconomic children annually, with the 2023 and 2024 scope notes an 85% improvement target in academic engagement attitudinally and behaviorally, and each cycle anticipates recruiting, training, and matching 110 to 125 mentors serving longer than six months, with 400 to 450 leveraged community volunteers engaged in resource and academic environment support.

Combined federal dollars obligated across all four sub-awards total $3.9 million. The organization operates entirely through this single federal grantor (CNCS via its state commission partner) and holds no prime contract or direct prime grant awards. Federal work represents the organization's primary avenue for AmeriCorps funding and volunteer coordination in the region.