Family Matters

When you think about the people who shaped your life, chances are someone believed in you before you believed in yourself. That’s exactly what Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters (YBBBS) does every single day.

Meet Big Sister Coleen and “Big Fur Brother” Grunt, who joined in a match with Little Sister Iris, 8, in September. This is the second match for both Big and Little. Grunt is in his first-ever match, though, and he really enjoyed hanging out with Iris when they first met … he even did tricks for her!

When I stepped into the role of Interim Executive Director at Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters earlier this year, I knew I was inheriting a legacy built on love, community, and possibility. For more than 50 years, our organization has stood as a steady force in the lives of local youth, giving them the guidance and encouragement they need to thrive. 

As we focus on a bright future for us and our matches, I want to share why we are selling our Prescott office building. For some, that might sound like a loss. But for us, it is a conscious, hopeful step. A building is just walls and windows, but our mission lives in the laughter exchanged between a Big and a Little, in the text messages of encouragement, and in the moments when a young person feels seen and heard.  

A month ago, I decided to join a self-defense workshop at the Healthy Families Institute that we produced in partnership with the DCS Office of Prevention. I know very little about physical self-defense, but I’ve always admired the discipline of those who practice martial arts. At the workshop, we learned a simple technique on how to free ourselves from an aggressor. We practiced (gently) on each other.  

It was fun, but it wasn’t intuitive. Our instructor, Scott, explained that if someone is grabbing you, your first impulse is typically to pull away, but that pulling away actually gives the aggressor more leverage. The way to throw off the aggressor is to first lean in. Leaning in gives you the leverage to free yourself.  

I couldn’t help but see a broader metaphor.  

When Prescott Valley’s Nanci and Kevin met Jackson, he was a quiet six-year-old with big brown eyes and a hint of hesitation. Now a high school sophomore, Jackson is family, literally.

The work of prevention is driven by the desire the protect children, to stop child abuse before it ever happens. But prevention isn’t just about avoiding harm—it’s also about creating the kind of world we want: one in which all children and families are living purposeful, happy lives with hope for the future.

People in our sector are feeling a lot of uncertainty lately. We are unsure how possible changes happening in our country will affect children and families, and how it will impact our work. It’s hard to know what to do with we think systems we’re part of might suddenly change.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how multiple different things can be true at once.

Raising children is tough—especially in today’s world, and especially when parents and caregivers feel alone. The team at Polara Health wants people to know they’re not alone; in fact, a whole cadre of experts and programs exist locally to help create stronger families.

“Children don’t come with manuals, nor does parenting,” said Beni Garcia, child and family counselor and a specialist in trauma-informed parenting at Polara Health.

She added that humans are wired to be part of a community; the adage, “It takes a village to raise a child,” is based in science.

By Robin Layton, Yavapai Big Brothers Big Sisters For Lucy Papas, becoming a mentor wasn’t just about giving back—it was about making a meaningful difference in a young person’s life. A single mother raising her daughter, she had always admired the idea of mentorship....

The local Boys & Girls Clubs have grown in the past few years; they offer day camp programs as often as possible, generate outdoor adventure experiences for youth, and innovative ways to connect with kids. They have adhered to their foundations of safety and academic enrichment while developing confidence and character across the wide variety of fun offered to Club Kids.

Navigating 2025, the Clubs are stalwart in sustaining their adventures. They have begun to hire program specific leaders to enrich their adventures even further. Archery classes are evolving into an archery crew with the hopes of a competitive youth team. This offer of program and youth enrichment is not limited to those who need the Clubs most; Clubs in Prescott and Prescott Valley are offering our services to all who seek adventure.

Since 1982, Adult Care Services (ACS), a local nonprofit, has provided essential care to adults living with Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other cognitive or physical challenges.

One of its key programs, the Susan J. Rheem Adult Day Center, operates Monday through Friday and provides a variety of services aimed at enriching the lives of participants and fostering a sense of purpose, well-being, and community. These services include daily exercise, meaningful activities, and social interaction. A dedicated team of nurses offers wellness support and ensure the health and safety of each participant. The center boasts a beautiful new garden complete with raised beds, walking paths, a sports area, and a splashing water garden. The center enhances the lives of its attendees and offers much-needed respite to caregivers, allowing them time to rest and recharge from the demands of around-the-clock caregiving.

As the calendar makes steady progress toward springtime, we naturally seek opportunities to be in nature and to embrace the warm sunlight of the lengthening days. Are you looking forward to finding ways to connect with nature, to feeling your hands in the dirt, and to getting some spring planting underway? Are you starting to notice different birds at your backyard feeders and getting curious about neighboring species of plants and animals? As life wakes up around us, these final days of winter have a way of making us feel a little “squirrely” and craving the fresh air of the outdoors.

At the Highlands Center for Natural History, a nature center on Prescott National Forest near Lynx Lake, our joy and calling is to facilitate opportunities for people to meaningfully engage with nature. As environmental educators, we often use the term “sense of place” to describe the ways in which people connect with their home, in the outdoors. Perhaps you are familiar with the term “Central Highlands,” the swath of land that extends like a sash across Arizona, northwest to the edge of the Mojave Desert and southeast into New Mexico. This patch of terrain comprises Prescott and describes our home.

Owner of Blooming Into You Guides Clients to Healing and Empowerment so They Can Show Up Better By Heather DeSousa “Blooming into you is all about changing the programming, beliefs and narrative we’ve created from childhood. Releasing and changing those old thought...