Spotlight Friendships

Antonia and Elizabeth met on Elizabeth’s birthday last February and the gift of Friendship has just kept on giving. Elizabeth was ready to meet her mentor as she had already been watching her two older sisters go out and about with their mentors for months by the time it was her turn. During their year they went on lots of Friends for Youth group activities, such as the Beach Extravaganza, Hip Hop Dance Class, Community Service with the Seniors at Lytton Gardens, and Visioning Your Future Life Skill Workshop. They also received tickets for Barnum & Bailey Circus and the California Academy of Sciences. They did lots of different things during their time, but both agree that some of the most special time they’ve spent together has been cooking at Antonia’s house.

Lindsey and Cody were matched last February and both agree that this year has been amazing! Both really look forward to their time together. Lindsey and Cody took advantage of many of the Friends for Youth activities and free tickets. The first Friends for Youth group activity they attended was Jump Sky High. They both had a blast. Another one of their favorite Friends for Youth activities was Community Service with the Seniors at Lytton Gardens. Cody had a great time playing board games with the residents. One of this Friendship’s favorite things to do together is play board games, so Cody was able to show off and share his skills with the Seniors that day. Lindsey and Cody also got a chance to go to Alcatraz, the Snow trip, and the Beach Extravaganza. Lindsey and Cody see no end to their Friendship and look forward to their future adventures.

A Big Thank You!

The Friends for Youth fiscal year ends March 31. We are on track to reach all of our original goals. Friends for Youth’s Mentoring Services wants to thank all the committees, organizations, and companies that have helped recruit the mentors we needed to make this year a success.

Thanks are due to Foothill College and Notre Dame de Namur University both for holding volunteer fairs on their campuses. Thank you to the members of DOVIA and to the Volunteer Center, who helped provide fresh ideas and support. To companies like Groupon, Cloudera, Google and Oracle for opening up their doors and networks to Friends for Youth, so that more youth might have a positive Friend. To radio stations like KBAY, KZSU and ESPN Deportes for broadcasting our volunteer opportunity. To news outlets like Patch.com, San Mateo Daily Journal, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Mountain View Voice for continued support. And to the ServeSurfer Foundation, Meetup, and Redwood City Chamber of Commerce for helping us connect to local people who are passionate about helping their community.

To these and many other businesses, councils, organizations and people, Friends for Youth says, “Thank you!”

A Trip to Tahoe

In the early hours of the morning on Saturday, March 10, ten Friendships and two staff members got onto a tour bus and drove to Northstar Resort at Lake Tahoe for a day of fun in the snow.

Each Friendship had its own plan for the day. Some were taking snowboarding lessons, others were preparing to snow tube, and still more were looking forward to ice skating. This staff member, your reporter, was incredibly excited to ski. He was confident in his abilities. When anybody asked, he said, “I’m going to ski. I’m pretty good.”

Waiting for the group at the Northstar parking lot were Friends for Youth Board members Rob Inouye and Dave Rozzi. After an introduction to the Northstar complex by Dave, who also works on the slopes, Friendships split up to begin their various activities.

Your reporter accompanied Dave up to the top of a very easy “green” run, where he proceeded to demonstrate his preternatural ability to role down a hill, skis akimbo, in great style. Dave, ever patient, was an invaluable instructor. After that first run, your reporter did no more rolling.

The rest of the Friends for Youth group didn’t have as much trouble on the slopes. A few Friendships learned how to snowboard, and they were quick students. Others had much fun, and less trouble, going down some hills on inner tubes. There was also ice skating, made somewhat rough by the day’s warm weather, as well as a snowball fight among Friendships, and more than a few pretty snowmen constructed around the Northstar grounds.

The snow trip was partially funded by an online fundraising drive featured on Groupon. It was organized by Program Coordinator Maribel Zarate and Friends for Youth Board member Dave Rozzi.

Everyone had a great time. Friends for Youth would like to thank everyone who came on the trip, all the donors who supported the Groupon campaign, Dave and Rob for helping out that day, and Northstar for all the fun!

Federal Funding for Youth Mentoring Programs

As the federal government begins its negotiations over next fiscal year's budget, those of us in the mentoring field are holding our collective breath. We've seen federal initiatives come and go (remember the Department of Education's school-based mentoring grants and Mentoring Children of Prisoners grants from the Department of Health and Human Services?), so we're hoping for some good news, meaning stable or an increase from last year's devastating funding. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely.

For FY13, President Obama requested $58 million for youth mentoring grants from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) and did not request any funding for the Mentoring Children of Prisoners (MCP) program from the Department of Health and Human Services. Last year, he requested $78 million for the youth mentoring grants from OJJDP and $25 million for MCP. The entire Department of Justice budget is only slightly less than last year and it's likely that most programs will receive some cuts.

However, there is $20 million for a new "evidence-based" program demonstration project, the OJJDP FY 2012 Mentoring Best Practices Research Grant, which consists of approximately six mentoring research grants this year. Grants are for one to five years, with an award ceiling of $500,000 for the entire length of the award.

And for those of you who rely on AmeriCorps members, President Obama proposes $760.5 million for the Corporation for National and Community Service. This includes more or less level funding for AmeriCorps grants ($345 million), the trust that pays out AmeriCorps education stipends ($208.7 million), and the National Civilian Community Corps ($30.1 million).

Though this is a proposed budget, those who work closely with OJJDP say that it's likely there will be juvenile mentoring grants through some of the Second Chance Act funding ($80 million which funds adult and youth mentoring programs for prisoners returning to communities). But, as Janet Forbush from The Center for the Advancement of Mentoring says, "Something to be brought front and center is that this is a proposed budget and we are in a volatile and extremely contentious election year. That said, it is very important that our voices, whether individually or collectively, are turned into a resonant chorus for our legislators on the Hill about the need for continued funding for mentoring to support our most vulnerable and high need youth. We are an informed and experienced constituency that hasn't offered our collective voice to the discussions."

More on this conversation on EducationNorthwest's Mentoring Forums and Youth Today. Please consider getting involved and contacting your representatives to voice your opinion on the importance of funding for all kinds of youth mentoring programs and, in the meantime, just breathe.