South Sacramento coalition members go to Washington, D.C.
by Emily Bender
Coalition Coordinator,
South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders
Traveling to the East Coast for weeklong trainings has been a regular event for the South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders the past two months. As a grantee for the Drug-Free Communities program, the coalition is required to attend annual trainings hosted by SAMHSA and CADCA. Phuong Duong and I are attending first-year trainings.
One highlight of our latest trip to Capitol Hill was the opportunity to meet with our congressional representative, Doris Matsui. She and her staff are interested in learning more about our coalition’s plans to enhance the community with art opportunities and job skills training for our youth. We hope to keep the lines of communication with her staff open, keeping them informed of our future events.
The SSCFL plans to invite coalition members, our new coalition chair and several youth leaders to future trainings. Although these conferences require a lot of travel time and funding, they are exciting, motivating and give guests the opportunity to learn from successful coalitions. We look forward to bringing back the tools and resources learned at these conferences to share with our members and youth!
The South Sacramento Coalition for Future Leaders is a REACH Community Action coalition. In 2008, the coalition received a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to reduce alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse among teens and adults in the community.
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Woodland Youth Council makes a difference at Wayfarer Center
by Izabelle Ponce
Youth Engagement Leader,
Woodland Coalition for Youth
Following up on a successful strategy meeting held on Feb. 4, the Woodland Youth Council, a group of young people working with adults in the Woodland Coalition for Youth, is asking local residents to support a community service project at the Yolo Wayfarer Center, a social service agency in Woodland.
Part of the mission of the Wayfarer Center is to feed, clothe and shelter those in need. To accomplish its mission, the center provides programs that meet the emergency, transitional and spiritual needs of people in crisis. There are many ways youth can assist the center in accomplishing its mission. Young people at the strategy meeting suggested they could:
• deliver workshops themselves
• babysit children while parents participate in workshops
• help prepare and serve food
• plant fruits and vegetables
• assist in the Wayfarer’s monthly household item and clothing giveaway
At the meeting, we discussed another way to assist the Wayfarer Center – by organizing their upstairs “donation closet.” The center currently stores clothing and food donations in its attic. However, Wayfarer staff says it receives more donations than it can manage. Donated clothing items need to be sorted, placed on hangers or, if they are no longer usable, disposed of. Staff would like the upstairs “to look like a department store” and have the clothing sorted by sizes and gender. Furthermore, half of the attic is full of canned foods that also need to be sorted. There are shelves that need to be assembled so that the canned foods and hygienic supplies can be organized.
Organizing the Wayfarer attic will give needy individuals in the community better access to clothing and food. The Woodland Youth Council has committed to helping by going through donations in the attic every other Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. We have created a volunteer calendar and are asking youth clubs to consider committing to a date on the calendar to do the same. The Woodland Youth Council will follow up with youth clubs that are interested in other volunteer opportunities at the Wayfarer Center.
To sign up for a day once a month to spend on this community service project, please contact me at iponce@yolofrc.org or call me at the Yolo Family Resource Center at (530) 406-7221 x111.
The community thanks you for your commitment to service!
The Woodland Coalition for Youth is a REACH Community Action coalition.
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Vacaville coalition works to identify youth concerns
by Carrie Dettmer
Senior Program Coordinator – REACH,
Vacaville Police Department
The REACH youth coalition in Vacaville meets every Monday at Vacaville City Hall from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Approximately 20 to 25 youth attend each coalition meeting, representing local high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. Adult volunteers from the Vacaville Youth Round Table regularly attend the REACH youth coalition meetings, bringing valuable expertise, insight and support to the REACH youth.
Since the beginning of the new year, REACH youth have worked diligently at identifying major areas of concern for young people in Vacaville by using the REACH coalition meetings to focus on small group discussion. Out of these discussions, the youth determined that the following issues are of high concern: safety on bike trails, gang activity, educational issues including graduation rates and career exploration, discrimination, environmental issues, transportation, lack of leadership opportunities and lack of youth voice in the community.
Using these concerns as a guide, youth and adults worked together to create a 15-question survey to distribute to the youth of the community in order to collect data on their perceptions of the same issues. The survey has been submitted to the Vacaville Unified School District for approval at the next school board meeting in early March. If the survey is approved by the district, it will be distributed at the high schools and middle schools during the lunch hour, at clubs and sports practices and at other school-related activities and events. Other venues also will be used for distribution of the youth survey. An adult survey also is being developed to present to adults in the community for the purpose of comparing their perceptions with those of the youth on the same and/or similar issues.
The Vacaville REACH Coalition is fortunate to have the opportunity to hire four youth interns to assist in the distribution of the surveys. REACH interns will work directly with the REACH coordinator to survey the community, participate in photo mapping of the community, facilitate youth coalition meetings and represent youth coalition members at city council meetings and other community meetings and events.
The Vacaville REACH Coalition is sponsored by the Vacaville Youth Round Table, a network of community leaders who are concerned about youth issues and an organization that has had success in leveraging resources for youth programs and services since it was established in 1991.
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YUFA STAR expands to Esparto with help of REACH grant
by Jessica Estrada
Youth Outreach Coordinator,
Yolo County Anti-tobacco Youth Coalition
In a continued effort to increase youth awareness about the dangers of tobacco use and the tobacco industry’s youth marketing tactics, the Yolo County Anti-tobacco Youth Coalition (YUFA STAR) has expanded its Woodland-based youth coalition to Esparto. The first meeting of the Esparto YUFA STAR coalition took place on Jan. 26 at the RISE office with a great turnout of 35 Esparto middle school and high school students. Youth participants had the opportunity to learn about the youth coalition and how tobacco affects your body while playing a fun, interactive Jeopardy game.
This all started when YUFA STAR three-year members Kate and Rebecca Markel, who attend Esparto High School, invited their EHS classmates to a Woodland YUFA STAR meeting. The EHS students were not able to attend because of the distance, and the idea to bring the youth coalition to them was born. Yolo County Health Department staff applied for a $10,000 REACH Program Improvement grant from Sierra Health Foundation in the summer of 2008 and received a grant, which helps cover transportation costs and new youth trainings involved with the expansion.
The Esparto YUFA STAR youth coalition will meet every minimum day Monday in Esparto during the school year at 1 p.m. at the RISE office at 17313 Fremont St. Each meeting will feature a 30-minute training on varying public health and tobacco education topics, a demonstration, a new media project, snacks and a fun icebreaker game.
YUFA STAR was founded in Woodland in 2001 from federal tobacco settlement money. Since its creation, the youth coalition has been involved in many community-changing activities in Woodland, such as advocating for the Smoke-Free Yolo County Fair and Woodland’s 20-Foot No Smoking Policy, organizing annual “Strike Out the Hype” Bowling Nights and attending local events with an interactive trailer. YUFA STAR expanded to West Sacramento in 2007.
For more information about YUFA STAR, contact me at (530) 666-8617 or visit the Yolo County Health Department Tobacco Prevention Program’s Web site.
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Friday Night Live/Club Live youth take the lead
by Ryan Miranda
Project Assistant, Prevention & Student Services Department
Sacramento County Office of Education
Emily Smith and Henry Andrus are students at Mills Middle School in the Folsom Cordova School District and are leaders in the Club Live program, operated by the Sacramento County Office of Education. Through a REACH Program Improvement grant from Sierra Health Foundation, Emily and Henry were given the opportunity to participate in a youth-led team that planned the Friday Night Live/Club Live annual leadership training. The training was held Oct. 11 at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento and included 180 middle school and high school students from Club Live and Friday Night Live school-based chapters throughout Sacramento County.
Both Emily and Henry are eighth-graders, now in their third year with the Club Live program. They attended leadership planning meetings over the summer, where they were able to share their insight into what their peers would enjoy at the training, as well as what they should take away from the leadership training. This gave them a great sense of responsibility for the event.
“I really enjoyed making the decisions with other students, but it put pressure on us, because if something wasn’t liked, it fell on us,” said Henry.
Emily reflected on her experiences as a member of the planning team saying, “It was nice getting together with other students to plan the event. I felt the adults didn’t get to do everything, which gave the students an opportunity to make decisions.”
Emily and Henry not only assisted in planning the event, they also took on the responsibility, along with fellow planning team members, of setting up the event, greeting attendees, handing out medals that went with the day’s theme, hanging posters and assisting with logistics. Emily was amazed to see how big the training was, stating “I didn’t think the training was going to be that big with so many other students attending. It was cool that there were so many people there!” Along with their responsibilities, Emily and Henry still had the opportunity to attend workshops throughout the day.
Both students felt they gained skills from participating as members of the planning team and from the leadership training itself. Emily said she gained skills she was able to take back to her chapter. “Being able to talk in front of people and knowing that we contributed to the training was something I took from the whole thing,” said Emily. Henry said he was able to take a lesson on “how to be a good leader.” Emily and Henry thought it was cool students their age could plan the training. “It was really a successful day,” said Emily.
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California Story Fund grants available
The California Story Fund is a small grants program that funds unique story projects in communities throughout the state. The projects that make up the California Story Fund provide opportunities for Californians to contribute their stories to the evolving story of our state. The organization will award grants of up to $10,000 to nonprofit organizations for public humanities programs that bring to light compelling stories from California’s diverse communities and provide opportunities for collective reflection and public discussion.
The deadline to submit applications is April 1. Please visit the California Story Fund Web site to view the guidelines.
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Workforce development convening postponed
Last month in REACH e-news we announced an opportunity to participate in a March 5 convening addressing the human services workforce crisis. Due to the current economic situation, that convening has been postponed until the fall. If you are interested in being part of an informal group that is meeting to work on a coordinated regional strategy to strengthen the human services workforce, e-mail Bina Lefkovitz at the Youth Development Network.
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Resources
As part of its Community Partnerships for Healthy Children 10-year initiative, which ended in 2003, Sierra Health Foundation created the We Did It Ourselves series of guidebooks. We are accepting final requests for the guidebooks through March 5. There is no charge for the books, and there is no limit to the number that can be requested. E-mail requests for the titles below to Sierra Health.
• A Guide Book to Improve the Well-Being of Children Through Community Development
• An Evaluation Guide Book
• If We Speak They Will Listen – The Importance of Communication Activities in Collaborative Building and Planning
America’s Promise offers its latest version of Grad Nation, an evidence-based guide with the latest research, best practices and tools for meeting specific high school dropout challenges. This resource is available free of charge on the America’s Promise Web site.
The 2008 Sacramento County Children’s Report Card provides a comprehensive overview of the health and well-being of children and youth in the county. This report is presented by the Sacramento County Children’s Coalition and is available on the Community Services Planning Council Web site.
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Opportunities
California high school juniors and seniors who have disabilities are invited to apply to attend the California Youth Leadership Forum in Sacramento July 26-30. Students will have the opportunity to live on a college campus and join more than 900 alumni members from across the state. Get information and the application on the California Youth Leadership Forum Web site.
Funding is available for the 2009-12 Learn and Serve America CalServe Initiative Partnership. Local educational agencies (school districts, county offices of education and some charter schools) may apply for funding. Details are available on the California Department of Education Web site.
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CalendarFeb. 27
GABY grant applications due for Sacramento and Yolo counties: Visit the new GABY 2.0 Web site for information about this youth opportunity.
E-mail story ideas, funding opportunities, resources and calendar items to us at REACH.
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