Blog

From: Veronica Castillo If you are a current/former foster youth, or if you are a service provider who works directly with a youth in care, please read on. You are cordially invited to attend the Promises2Kids Guardian Scholars Scholarship Workshop held at Cuyamaca College in the Science & Math Center Room H-119 on Thursday, January 10th 11:30am to 1:00pm. At this workshop, you will receive assistance in applying for this $3,200 scholarship online, enjoy FREE lunch, meet NextUp and UP!

On Saturday, October 20 th , I Love A Clean San Diego and the City of Chula Vista held a dynamic community cleanup event called Beautify Chula Vista Day, organized and made strong by hundreds of enthusiastic volunteers. Celebrating its 16th year in 2018, this event has made an extensive impact on the City of Chula Vista as a whole, having reached over 12 focus areas with plans to continue on its path to make a difference for the future. Each year continues to be successful with the help of...

As we wrap up the year, we’re extremely proud to share our annual report where we explore what it means to us to be trailblazers: Experience it here . We’re also packing up and moving out . We will be up and running in our new office on January 7. Stay tuned for open house details. Just announced—our 3rd annual Opportunity Summit is happening on May 2, 2019! The Summit is central to our efforts and community collaboration needed to reduce/eliminate youth disconnection throughout our region.

The holidays can be a difficult time for justice-involved youth and their families when they can’t celebrate at home. But San Diego County Probation strives to keep families together at these times. “It’s part of trying to facilitate engagement with the families. The kids need the support and interactions with their families, so they can be better and do better,” said Supervising Probation Officer Tyra Myles, who works with youth at the Girls Rehabilitation Facility, which is part of the...

“It is very rewarding to see members build confidence and a support network free of stigma, and advocate for themselves for both their mental health and in their personal lives,” said Kelly Villa, Program Manager at Mariposa Clubhouse. “I also enjoy that they have ownership over the activities offered at the Clubhouse by providing suggestions and helping the program run smoothly by volunteering in various roles. I am always impressed with how committed members are to our program and to their...

"We've seen a lot of smiles today, lot of children who are very happy, seen some families who are coming crying, saying we didn't think we were going to have a Thanksgiving this year," Smith said. He said the church screens families to make sure they're in need. The goal, he said, is to feed everyone who needs it in the area within a few years. "We've been so overlooked and neglected over the years, so now we're trying to take matters into our own hands," he said. To read more of Claire...

Mindfulness usually begins as an individual practice, but when the practice of mindfulness is shared between members of a group, each member is likely to receive additional benefits. When people come together to work towards a common goal or project, they can experience strengthened relationships and gain a better understanding of the power of interconnectedness. A Reason to Survive (ARTS) understands the value of interconnectedness to support creative and effective community building. On...

Emergency officials and law enforcement officers are increasingly responding to calls about people with dementia in crisis. The degenerative brain disease can cause disruptive or sometimes violent behaviors. Now, a new San Diego County-led Alzheimer’s Response Team , serving East County, is stepping in to steer people to appropriate services, instead of emergency rooms or jails. The team is so effective it could expand to other regions, said County Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who gathered with...

As a girl by herself wandering wantonly within the woods, I was kept company By animal voices and ancient whispers from the tree canopy When my bare feet touched warm soil, planted firmly on earth, I was so aware I was never alone, I belonged to this mystic beauty, and happily had not a care Yet by the time I was a young woman, ready to journey from my home The animal voices, many were going quiet it was well known Our overpopulated and ever multiplying numbers, an occupying parasite upon...

Join the next EPIC Webinar – TOMORROW November 28, 2018 Addressing the Needs of People with Disabilities in Public Health Emergencies November 28, 2018 1:00 PM Eastern Time Please join CDC’s Cindy Hinton and the CDC EPIC Team for a discussion on how community leaders, community members, emergency response workers, and caretakers can plan to lessen the harm of emergencies on people with disabilities. Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2018 Time: 10:00am (Pacific Time) Please click the link below...

In 2019, more than $40 million will become available to fund community-based, culturally rooted, trauma-informed services for youth in California as alternatives to arrest and incarceration. Thousands of California youth are arrested every year for low-level offenses. Youth who are arrested or incarcerated for low-level offenses are less likely to graduate high school, more likely to suffer negative health-outcomes, and more likely to have later contact with the justice system.

Black students are more than twice as likely to be suspended as students overall in San Diego County, while foster youth are almost five times as likely to be suspended, according to a new batch of suspension data released by the state on Monday. Last school year, more than 15,000 students in the county were suspended at least once, and more than a quarter of them were suspended multiple times. About 1,500 of those suspended students were in kindergarten through third grade. Still,...