An assist on the basketball court is credited when a pass directly leads to a 2- or 3-point field goal, depending on the length of the shot.
The assist that a Dawes Middle School basketball coach gave one of her players more than 20 years ago – first through TeamMates, and later through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program – was a life-changing experience that continues to pay dividends today.
The former “Little” is now 36 years old and paying it forward to his 14-year-old protégé. The “receiver” has now become the “giver.”
In the beginning
This success story started in 1998, when coach Melanie (“Mel”) Meister became a mentor to one of her eighth-grade team’s members, Allen Ladd, through the TeamMates Mentoring Program. TeamMates, a school-based mentoring program founded in 1992 by Tom and Nancy Osborne, focuses on weekly in-school sessions in which adult volunteer mentors meet with youth mentees.
Meister and Ladd found their one-on-one school sessions mutually beneficial and enjoyed the camaraderie. But TeamMates sessions focus on academics in a school setting; Meister and Ladd sought a mentoring program that would be more community-based and offer a more informal setting. They found it at Big Brothers Big Sisters, where “Bigs” and “Littles” share activities on their own schedule and typically meeting on weekends or evenings for a couple of hours each week.
Brimming with confidence due to their TeamMates pairing, coach and student had their requested “match” approved by BBBS. The pairing of “Big” and “Little” created a chance to explore new environments and learn new skills. The match flourished and opened a new world of opportunities.
“It allowed us to just hang out outside of school,” said Ladd, an impressionable ninth-grade student at the time. The pair bonded over basketball and branched out from there. “His mother was deceased, his dad had some serious health issues at the time, and he lived with his aunt,” Meister reflected. “I thought he needed some extra guidance in his life.”
Over the next half-dozen years, Ladd’s self-confidence grew as Meister and her family took the student under their wing. Although basketball remained a primary diversion, outings such as fishing trips with Meister’s grandfather became a part of the itinerary. Ladd became a familiar face at the Meister family gatherings.
“Looking back at those times, I think the family aspect meant even more to me than the activities did,” Ladd said.
Paying it forward
Ladd is now a 36-year-old professional juggling three jobs. He is a school social worker for Lincoln Public Schools’ Bryan Community Focus Program, an adjunct professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and an employee at Cedars.
Despite the demanding schedule, Ladd has managed to find time to give back to the program that kept him on the straight and narrow. In November 2020, the former Little became a Big and was matched with Jaxson Yaussi, currently a 14-year-old eighth-grade student at Ladd’s alma mater, Dawes Middle School.
“Jaxson is the only boy in our household and really needed a male role model,” said his mother, Kasel Yaussi, who has three daughters and four preschool-age foster children (also girls). She was in Havelock one day when she saw a promotional sign for BBBS and thought of Jaxson.
When she saw the profile of Ladd – an active professional in the business world who, like Jaxson, is African-American – she was confident the match would work. Although the coronavirus pandemic has made scheduling activities more challenging, the first 18 months of the match have gone well, the mother said.
“Jaxson is more motivated because of Allen’s presence in his life,” Yaussi observed. “Jaxson has picked up on some of Allen’s habits, such as exercising and his drive to do well. Jaxson wants to make Allen proud of him.”
Wanted: More male mentors
The Lincoln affiliate of BBBS could use more Allen Ladds.
“More than 70 percent of our children waiting for a Big are boys, but only three of every 10 inquiries to volunteer come from men,” said Shawn Ryba, a familiar face in the world of Lincoln nonprofits who joined the local BBBS staff as its executive director on Jan. 17 of this year, succeeding Mario Racicot.
Ryba said the local nonprofit has 125 matches currently on the books and 30 children on a waiting list. Mentors receive training and a strong foundation of continued match support.
BBBS serves Littles in the age range of 7 to 16; the minimum age for a Big is 19. The nonprofit requires an application process and interview, a background check, a one-year minimum commitment, weekly contacts between matches and annual reviews.
Children in the Lincoln program must reside in the Lincoln city limits and cannot be receiving other one-to-one mentoring services in the community such as TeamMates or City Impact.
Ryba supervises a five-member staff, leads a 15-member board and oversees a $375,000 annual budget. The Lincoln nonprofit, formerly known as Heartland BBBS prior to 2018, is in its third year at Turbine Flats, 2124 Y St., after many years on Havelock Avenue.
Ryba said the BBBS, founded in 1970 as a joint venture of the local YMCA and the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department to meet the needs of single-parent youth, was originally called Y-Pals and was housed at the YMCA. In 1986, the organization began an affiliation process with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Former Little and Big
Ryba, a 25-year veteran of the nonprofit world, is a former BBBS participant who was both a Little and a Big during his years in Columbus, Nebraska. Besides the Lincoln affiliate, current BBBS organizations in Nebraska are located in Omaha, Grand Island and Norfolk.
Raised in a single-parent household, Ryba was a Little from ages of 7 to 10, learning to bowl and fish, among other activities. “It kept me out of trouble and exposed me to things I would not have been otherwise.”
Later in life, the desire to give back just came naturally. He was a Big three different times in his life. “I always felt privileged to give back,” he said.
Lasting relationships
Between connecting with his Little and maintaining ties with his former Big, Allen Ladd’s life is enriched by the BBBS experience.
“I was at Jaxson’s elementary school graduation, and I plan to be at his high school graduation,” Ladd said. The life skills Jaxson has learned from Ladd have included outdoor grilling.
Ladd knows all about BBBS relationships standing the test of time. The friendship he shares with Meister, who now teaches physical education and health at Culler Middle School, spans more than 20 years. Among the commonalities shared by the pair: both went back to school later in life and earned their master’s degrees.
Meister’s history as a Big was finalized long ago when she delivered her one-and-done promise to Ladd.
“Allen made me promise that he’d be my only Little … and I was happy to keep that promise!”
More details about Big Brothers Big Sisters can be found at .
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“Youth who participate in our program demonstrate improved academic performance, have better relationships with peers and family, and are less likely to become involved with drugs and alcohol.”
Allen Ladd (center), who was mentored more than 20 years ago in middle school by Mel Meister (at right), now mentors Jaxson Yaussi (at left) through Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln.
Shawn Ryba, a familiar face in the world of Lincoln nonprofits who became executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Lincoln on Jan. 17, succeeds Mario Racicot.