Friendship Fun Around the Bay

Friends for Youth organized two activities this past week, and they were both marvelous successes!

Almost Eden Community Garden Volunteer Project
Five Friendships got up early Saturday morning to smell the roses. The Almost Eden Community Garden in Palo Alto is a beautiful space full of flowers, vegetables and, unfortunately, weeds. At 9am it was the task of the Friends for Youth crew to banish these pesky plants from the otherwise pristine plot.

Program Coordinator Maribel Zarate organized the event. "Everyone was very tired by the end, but it was so much fun!"

To learn more about the Almost Eden Community Garden, visit http://www.almosteden.org.

Friends for Youth at ABC7 Live
At the ABC studios on the corner of Embarcadero and Green streets in San Francisco, Friends for Youth Friendships and staff gathered to be part of the on-screen "voice box" for the ABC7 Live television show.

The show, hosted by Brian Copeland, engages people in live conversations about everything from pop-culture to politics. Members of Friends for Youth sat in the audience section of the set where they clapped and cheered every time the show returned from commercials. It was a new experience for everybody.

See the Friends for Youth version of the show here!

2011 Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring Update

"Everyone who works with youth should be mentor-like." This quote from Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring Research Fellow Roger Jarjoura is starting off our week of interacting with both researchers and practitioners, definitely in the right direction. This year's sessions focus on the mentoring of youth involved with child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Other Research Fellows include Tim Cavell, Sarah Geenen, Michelle Munson, Julia Pryce, Heather Taussig, and SIYM Director Tom Keller. The 30 participants and eight National Partner representatives (including myself) will be joined for a special Friday session by Kym Ahrens, Jeffrey Butts, Leslie Leve, Laurie Powers, and Renee Spencer to complete a week of incredible research and discussion.

So far, I'm pleased to say I'm engaged and intrigued by the beginning talks about frameworks, challenges, and recommendations. My list of proposed changes and implementation items is already started!

Look for more reviews about the 2011 SIYM soon.

At the Game

Friends for Youth had a sun-kissed waitlist activity on Wednesday, June 6^th in Oakland. Seven boys waiting to be matched with mentors relaxed under the east-bay sun and watched the Oakland Athletics defeat the Seattle Mariners during a noon game at Oakland Coliseum.

“Waitlists are a great opportunity for unmatched youth in our program to get a sense of the kinds of activities they will do when they are matched,” said Program Director Rebecca Duran. “We are grateful to the A’s organization for providing us with these tickets.”

Activities like the Oakland A’s game also allow staff to get to know potential Junior Friends better, which is an enormous benefit when it comes time to finding them a compatible match.