Thank you! Together we hit a grand slam and raised $204,000 for our kids!

Thanks to our generous donors, sponsors, and volunteers, we are happy to announce that our recent fundraiser, Let’s SAY Ball was a home run and we exceeded our goal of raising $200,000! The event, held May 4, 2013 at the Friedman Event Center was a fun-filled baseball inspired live auction event with dinner and dancing. Most importantly though, it was an event for our community to come together in supporting the youth and families we work with every day here at SAY.

Over 320 guests joined us at the sold out event. Be sure to check our flickr page for pictures! Proceeds from the event will support our vital community services for youth who are in crisis throughout Sonoma County.

We’ll be in touch soon with the date for next year’s event! And before you ask: sorry, the theme is top secret!

Youth homelessness has risen by over 61% in the last 2 years. While family homelessness has decreased (read more in the Press Democrat here) young adults are having a harder and harder time finding affordable housing and jobs. Overall, 1 in 4 homeless people in Sonoma County is under 25 years old. That’s 1,128 kids sleeping outside in Sonoma County each night.

SAY helps by offering housing, counseling and jobs to homeless youth. In the past year:

• 80% of the kids moving out of Tamayo Village move into stable housing.
• We offer 660 kids work readiness programs, and over 65% get jobs as a result.
• 105 teens ages 12-17 received a warm welcome and a safe place to stay at our Dr. Coffee Teen Shelter.

This increase in need is the reason why SAY is looking to expand services with the generous donation of the Warrack Hospital campus from Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa. This expansion would allow us to serve 500 more youth each year. For more information, please contact Development Director Cat Cvengros.

Cat Cvengros Development Director Work Phone: 707-544-3299 x218work Work Email: cat@saysc.orgINTERNET

Nikki Buckstead, SAY’s new Director of Programs and Services

Social Advocates for Youth is pleased to announce the appointment of Nikki Buckstead as the agency’s new Director of Programs and Services. Prior to this position, Nikki worked as the Executive Director for the Sacramento Region Affiliate of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

Ms. Buckstead’s nonprofit experience started in 2000 at the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Sacramento Affiliate, and she was appointed to the position of Executive Director in 2006. Within a two-year period, Nikki doubled the size of the agency budget, staff and facilities, providing youth, families and adults with substance abuse treatment and prevention services as well as mental health services. Nikki has also provided technical assistance to non-profit providers throughout the state, focusing on implementing culturally and linguistically appropriate services to clients. In 2008, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors gave Nikki a Heroes of Human Services Award.

As Director of Programs and Services at SAY, Nikki will work with staff in forwarding the mission of SAY, to provide support, opportunities, and hope to children and families in Sonoma County. “I’m excited to part of the SAY team and the work we will be doing to provide much needed to services to the youth in our community,” she says.

Executive Director Matt Martin says, “I am confident that Nikki’s positive ‘can do’ attitude and extensive background in serving at-risk youth and adults will be a tremendous contribution to our organization.”

701. You may have heard us talking about the 701 homeless youth who are on the streets in Sonoma County before. Have you ever wondered how we get to that number? Or wondered where those youth are? At SAY it’s vital to know how many youth are living out on the streets, and to know what help they need. So every two years, we help lead a Point In Time Homeless Youth Count.

During the count volunteers and SAY staff are paired with homeless young people hired to act as guides to help locate other youth. Organizer and Street Outreach Program Coordinator Lisa Fatu gives each team an area of the county to scout and the teams drive or walk around their areas keeping a tally of the number of homeless youth they see in each location.

On January 25, 2013 over a dozen volunteers and homeless youth guides took part in this year’s Homeless Youth Count. During the initial visual count, our teams try not to disturb teens who are sleeping in tents or cars, and this initial visual count is followed by detailed surveys over the following weeks. The surveys give us vital information about why youth have run away or become homeless, and offer insights into what services and support they need.

In 2011, the homeless youth we surveyed said that the number one thing they need, before a house, or food, is a job. They recognized that with a job, they can find a place to live, and can afford to buy food, which is why SAY has expanded our youth employment programs over the past two years to offer more employment help to more youth. Last year, we hired over 170 youth to work with us through the Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps, and we worked with over 650 youth to offer help with employment and education.

The numbers from the Homeless Youth Count are still being finalized. We are hopeful that the number has decreased with the improved economy, but regardless of the final count, we know that we need to be ready to offer support, hope and opportunities to the young people who are out there sleeping under bridges, in fields, and in abandoned buildings tonight.

Check out photos from the Homeless Youth Count below:

A recent article in the North Bay Bohemian featured Jeramy, a young boy who ran away from home at 16 after his family was evicted from their home. Jeramy came to SAY’s Coffee House Teen Shelter, where our staff helped him get into Hanna Boys Center, and later helped him move in to SAY’s Tamayo Village when he turned 18. Now, he is enrolled in classes at the SRJC, and is working hard to support himself.

Housing:

• Last year 29 youth ages 18-24 found a home at Tamayo Village when they would otherwise have been homeless.
• Tamayo Village is the only transitional housing facility in Sonoma County providing housing, counseling, case management, life-skills, peer coaching for homeless and former foster youth, ages 18-24.

Employment:

• The youth who live at Tamayo Village are constantly working to improve their lives. Last year:
  • 80% of our residents worked with our on-site employment specialist
  • 39% of our youth found employment. Nationally, only 20% of youth in this population were able to find work.
  • 35% of our youth were enrolled in school or a GED prep class (the national average for this population is just 20%).
  • 30% of our youth used volunteer opportunities to gain job experience.

Join us for a tour at the Tamayo Village on February 21, 2013

This winter we have had an energetic group of 10 youth working in partnership with the Sonoma County Water Agency to keep our local trails clear of debris, and to restore native plants to our waterways. An extension of the Sonoma County Youth Ecology Corps, the crew has been hard at work since October, supervised by SAY’s YouthLink program staff and by the Water Agency’s maintenance crew. They have been hard at work planting willow trees, and graminoids (native grasses) at sites throughout Sonoma County. The native restoration work they have done has been important to restoring the biodiversity of our local creeks and trails.

Working over the winter hasn’t been easy for these young people. They start their workday at 8am, while temperatures are low and frost is visible on the ground. On rainy days they don bright yellow “banana suits” and keep on working in the rain. Knowing how cold it has been, local clothing company Buff® was happy to donate brightly colored scarves to help our crew keep warm.

In the past months, our crew has worked at sites throughout Sonoma County, including the a salmon fish ladder on Dry Creek where they built an all-natural erosion control system. They created a planter box out of willows, filled it with dirt and put more willows inside of it. Crew-leader Fred tells us that the willows they planted will “take root, and then form a net holding back the sides of the creek bed”. This will help keep the salmon who span along the creek safe while they are spawning.

When asked what the funniest thing to happen to the crew over their work season, almost everyone said that they had fallen into a creek at some point. “You have to get wet, like up to your waist. It only counts when you’re sitting at lunch just soaked.” All of their hard work pays off though, when asked what they do with their paychecks, everyone said they pay bills, with rent, utilities and cell phones at the top of the list. One young man, Alfonzo shared that he was able to become independent this year; he just moved into a new place, and is happy to be there.

A few months ago, the City of Santa Rosa’s Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force invited artist Fabian Debora from Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles to come tell his inspiring story of leaving the gang-lifestyle behind. Fabian spoke with a group of teens from California Youth Outreach (CYO) and SAY’s Esperanza Prevention program, and talked about how creating art has changed his life. As a renowned muralist, Fabian’s story inspired our youth to begin designing a mural to be painted along Santa Rosa’s Prince Memorial Greenway.

Together the youth decided that they want the mural to represent our community and Santa Rosa’s rich history. Over the next few weeks, of brainstorming, they took several field trips to photograph local landmarks and reviewed the photos to decide what would to be reflected in the mural.

Gustavo Mendoza from CYO worked with SAY’s Toni Abraham to encourage the youth participants, saying “the youth are all motivated and extremely creative with their ideas.” Toni added that “the art mural workshops have been very exciting, educational, inspiring well as a great opportunity for youth from different schools and neighborhoods to work together.” Currently, the youth are working to finalizing their design before it will be sent to the City of Santa Rosa for review. Once it is approved they will work with Fabian on the blueprint and layout of the mural at the selected site, and hope to begin painting in the Spring, after the rainy season ends.

Our Medi-Cal Counseling Clinic serves over 250 families each year, providing therapy and counseling to youth between the ages of 5 and 25. Over the holiday season, many of the parents we work with are worried about how they will be able to afford Christmas presents for their children. This year, 35 families from SAY’s counseling clinic participated in the Secret Santa program hosted by The Volunteer Center, KZST Radio, and Friedman’s Home Improvement.

Our families submitted Christmas wishes written on red heart shaped ornaments, the ones you see hanging from trees in stores throughout Sonoma County. From there, generous donors fulfilled their wishes, and gave our families a Christmas to remember. One family said that the had no presents under the tree before Secret Santa, and were so thankful to be able to give their children presents for Christmas.

In support of the Secret Santa program, Summit State Bank teamed up with fellow community-minded local businesses, Oliver’s Markets and Costeaux French Bakery to sell jingle bell necklaces for a $1 donation. They raised over $5,821 from their inaugural “It’s A Wonderful Life in Sonoma County” giving campaign. All donations that were collected from the sale of jingle bells will go towards funding unfulfilled Secret Santa letters.

“Raising almost $6,000 really speaks to how much the members of our community support each other. It proves that no donation, even $1, is too small to make a difference,” Tom Duryea, President and CEO of Summit State Bank says.

From the desk of Susie McGavin, SAY’s Director of Operations: This all started out with me taking an opportunity to use the coins in Kiera’s piggy bank to teach her about coins, practice sorting, and sneak in a little math. We emptied her piggy bank and when we were finished she had $35.83. Then I asked what she might like to do with all this money. Would she buy Christmas presents for her family? Treats for the Cats? Or something for others who might not be as fortunate? (Now trying to sneak in a philanthropic moment).

She decided she wanted to put a little back into the piggy bank to start over – that was .83 cents. Then she wanted to save some to spend on ice cream at her favorite ice cream shop – $5.00. That left $30.00. She has been asking me about the teen shelter recently, especially since she sees homeless people on the street, and we talk about how shelters keep people safe and warm. She has visited the shelter and heard me share with her how SAY collects socks, scarves, etc. for the homeless youth and she decided that’s what she wanted to do.

So, we went to a “dollar” store and we picked out 30 pairs of socks. When we got home, she made a card that reads, “Please be safe and warm. Love, Kiera.” The card will be photocopied and attached to each pair of socks.

Social Advocates for Youth (SAY) announced today Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa (SMCSR) has offered to donate the former Warrack Hospital building for the purpose of expanding SAY’s capacity to serve Sonoma County’s youth and families in need. SAY was founded in 1971 and provides a variety of services including low-cost counseling, job training, educational support, emergency, transitional housing and youth employment to former foster children and children ages 5-24.

Opening in 1960, Warrack Hospital, located on Hoen Avenue in Santa Rosa, operated as a 69 bed acute care facility until 2006. SMCSR acquired the hospital in 2001. The hospital was de- licensed in 2006 due to lack of community need.    The East Wing of the former hospital is currently used for ancillary medical services, occupying less than 25% of the building’s space.

“We learned of SAY’s vision to create a Sonoma County Youth Opportunity Center and knew this was the right fit and best use for the building’s unique configuration. SMCSR offered to donate the building to SAY to preserve the location’s community service legacy,” explained Mike Purvis, SMCSR’s Chief Administrative Officer.

If SAY accepts the building donation from SMCSR, SAY plans to raise funds from grants, government sources and the Sonoma County community to establish a Youth Opportunity Center. The center would be a non-profit campus, providing young people in Sonoma County with an array of complementary and supportive resources such as counseling, employment training, job skills training, transitional housing for former foster children, emergency shelter, and community engagement programs.

Matt Martin, SAY Executive Director

“We are honored SMCSR wants to support SAY’s efforts to reach more of Sonoma County’s youth and children in crisis with our services and programs. This generous donation from SMCSR would be a great start in bringing our dream of establishing a center where, for generations to come, teens and vulnerable 18-24 year olds can heal, grow, and find hope into reality,” said Matt Martin, SAY Executive Director.

In August, SAY’s Board of Directors signed an agreement with SMCSR to enter into a 180 day due diligence period to investigate the condition of the building and identify all costs associated with remodeling the inside of the building. Several local Sonoma County building industry leaders have donated their time to assist SAY in evaluating the facility, including Mark Davis of Wright Contracting, Jim Henderson Architect, Project Development Manager Bert Bangsberg, Don Watanabe, former Burbank Housing Project Manager, Steve Worthen of Interiors Inc., Civil Engineer Leroy Carlenzoli, and Zyromski-Konicek. SAY’s plan would include relocating their existing offices from Airway Drive in Santa Rosa, while the Dr. James E. Coffee House Teen Shelter (Sonoma County’s only emergency 24/7 teen shelter for runaways) and Tamayo Village (transitional housing and job skills training for former foster youth) would remain at their existing locations.

“SAY is evaluating our capacity to operate current programs while expanding into the new location with the Youth Opportunity Center and including other nonprofits that provide complimentary services to children and youth. In addition to the remodeling costs, we are evaluating the increases to our operating budget to support these various programs. SAY’s Board of Directors will have to determine the feasibility of this project once all the building conditions and costs are known,” explained John Meislahn, SAY Board President.

SAY anticipates completing their investigation of the building in early 2013. If the project moves forward, SMCSR would immediately donate the former Warrack Hospital to SAY. Currently, SMCSR has operations on the East Wing of the property and intends to remain and would lease the East Wing of the hospital back from SAY.

“Our community needs to support our youth in crisis. Most people are unaware that when a Sonoma County foster child turns 18 years old, they receive two gifts – a check for $300 and immediate homelessness. If we can come together, raise the funds needed and make this dream of a Youth Opportunity Center happen, we will change the future for hundreds of Sonoma County youth every year,” said Bill Friedman, SAY Honorary Board Member.