Chris & TJ’s story

Big Brother Chris & Little Brother TJ
2008 Big Brother of the Year

On November 13, 2006, Chris Collins became a “Big”. He was matched with TJ Holka, an 11 year old boy being raised by a single mom with basically no other family support. The goals for the match were fairly standard BBBS goals. The single parent wanted a strong male role model in her son’s life. She wanted her son to receive some male guidance so he could improve academically, socially, and emotionally. The relationship between Chris and TJ became a strong one almost immediately. They appeared to bond on so many levels. The case worker noted over and over that this was definitely a strong match with Chris spending lots of time with the young man. Then, one day about a year into the match, TJ’s mother called with devastating news-she had cancer and the prognosis was not good. There were no relatives to help. Not just faced with death in a few months, the mother was panicked about what would happen to her son. She almost immediately confided in Chris who became her most trusted ally in raising her son. On that day, Chris made a sacred promise to TJ’s mother by telling her not to worry, that he would take care of TJ.

True to the medical prognosis, TJ’s mother died a few short months later. Chris, a young unmarried professional, stayed true to his word. He took TJ into his home and immediately became his guardian. While BBBS relationships tend to be strong bonds, Chris chose to go to extraordinary lengths to make a difference in a child’s life. He nurtured him through his grief and helped him find the strength to go on.  He took a young grief-stricken boy and helped him become whole again. TJ today is a friendly, outgoing, and self assured young man with a bright future and he owes a lot his new found strength to Chris.

TJ says “Chris is my best friend and will be forever. Thank you Big Brothers!”