Skip to content

Chilliwack woman building bonds and a better world

Briann and Destiny's sisterhood a shining beacon of hope in Big Brothers Big Sisters Fraser Valley
71926chilliwackBriannandDestinywithGaetzWEB
Briann Gillies (centre) shares a laugh with her “little sister” Destiny Prest and Chilliwack Mayor Sharon Gaetz. Briann and Destiny are a Big Sister match. Briann has received a BC Youth in Care Award for her outstanding contributions.

On the day Briann Gillies met her little sister, she was driving around her sporty pink Geo Tracker.

The fun and bubbly car perfectly reflected Briann's friendly personality, and turned out to be a bit of an ice breaker.

Because that day, Briann wasn't meeting just any sister — she had chosen this sister for herself. Knowing she wanted to do something positive as a volunteer, and bursting with energy and ideas to share with someone, Briann had signed up to be a big sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters Fraser Valley.

And driving to her new little sister's house, Briann found herself thrilled to be embarking on this new relationship.

Her little sister, who was just 12 at the time, was excited, too.

Destiny Prest stood by her living window and waited, peeking eagerly through the curtains for a glimpse of her future.

When that little pink Geo pulled up, she just knew good things were coming her way.

That pivotal moment for both Destiny and Briann was just two years ago, but the bond between them is as strong as any sisterhood.

While Briann provides mentorship, she and Destiny have learned from each other, laughed together, and will forever remain sisters — long after any official pairing.

Their fast friendship is a success story for Big Brother Big Sister Fraser Valley. But being there for Destiny is just one of many things Briann has done in her young life. And she plans on doing plenty more, as she works toward a career in social work. She hopes to work in child welfare specialization, to "give youth the voice they deserve."

For all that she has done, Briann has been given the Outstanding Contribution — Youth Award from the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks. FBCYICN is a youth-driven, provincial, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of young people in and from government care in B.C., between the ages of 14 and 24. The awards were handed out in a ceremony in Squamish over the weekend, and Briann and Destiny took the roadtrip, along with a few others who have been on this journey with them. That includes Collette Bohach, BBBS mentoring coordinator for Chilliwack, Agassiz and Hope.

She said Briann has been an inspiration to watch mature into her role as a volunteer and collaborator, one who has already capably put together an entire youth-driven conference.

"It was impressive to say the least," Bohach said.

Mayor Sharon Gaetz was at a reception held last Thursday in Chilliwack in Briann's honour, for those who wanted to congratulate her in person.

Gaetz commended Briann for her willingness to learn how to be leader, and then in turn helping another young woman improve her life.

"It's awesome to be in a group of people who understand mentorship and who understand what it means to lift somebody up," she said. "I think there is real power in women working together, and I understand you received mentorship and now you are giving it away. And Destiny, I hope you know the value of this. We all learn from each other."

She told both the girls "life is so darn short and people tell you that, people told me that. You value that you have a very short time for living life the way you want to."

Briann thanked her parents for motivating her, and pushing her forward.

"I've learned the more I put in, the more I get out of it," she said of her volunteering efforts.

Destiny and Briann are just one pairing of 30 community-based Big Brother or Big Sister matches. There are another 37 in-school mentoring matches, two school groups with 12 participants each, one "Big Bunch" group with two participants and one leader. Finally, they have the Human Service Career Program at Chilliwack secondary that has matched 18 mentors with 33 youth.

That's a total of 126 children in the Chilliwack office who are receiving mentorship through Big Brothers Big Sisters. But the need is always there for more help.

Bohach said they are currently recruiting for the HSCP and the in-school mentoring for next September. The community based matches are ongoing, and they are particularly short on men to be matched up with the boys waiting for big brothers. Boys often wait as long as two years for a match.

To learn more about how to volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters Fraser Valley phone 604-858-0828.

 

 

 



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
Read more