As we enter Thanksgiving week, we at Sunny Hills Services have a lot to be thankful for. Each of our programs and services continues to help the most vulnerable children and families in California, and we continue to receive tremendous support from all of the communities we are part of. In a particular way, I am thankful this year for Bay Area Youth Centers, or BAYC. BAYC became part of the Sunny Hills Services family of programs when the two agencies merged in 2008, and our programs there continue to expand and grow.
For over thirty years, BAYC has helped thousands of emotionally traumatized young people heal and grow. BAYC was started by people who believe that all young people deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential. That core belief continues to define each of their programs, and is in line with Sunny Hills’ historic mission to help youth in the transitional age range as hey prepare to transition into independence. The programs at BAYC help ensure that young adolescents who are ‘aging out’ of foster care continue to have a roof over their heads, food to eat, and people to turn to when they are in crisis. Their services keep these young people from homelessness, something we especially appreciate at this time of year. For more information on how BAYC is helping, visit them online.
This is also the time of year when we especially encourage people to pledge to the Sunny Hills annual appeal. Your pledge helps guarantee that programs like BAYC continue to grow, and are able to help children and young adults throughout the holiday season and all year long. I know that they will be especially thankful for your support this week! Another way to support our programs and services is through purchase of a Bounty of Marin gift basket, which makes a great gift or hostess item as you start making the holiday rounds at Thanksgiving.
We are always deeply appreciative of your support. As we approach the week where it is traditional to express that appreciation, I offer an especially strong thank you to each of you, for being part of our family of supporters.
Note: BAYC’s Executive Director Josh Leonard was part of an expert panel at this week’s conference on Transitional Age Youth in California. He discussed “Sex, Drugs, & Rock’n’Roll: Addressing Third Rail Issues in Housing” – issues about how programs for transitional age youth must deal with behaviours including sexuality and substance use, which are often developmentally appropriate but still difficult to address.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
A Pledge of Support
The Sunny Hills Services Annual Appeal was sent out this week, and we are very excited to announce that our Board of Directors has pledged $50,000 in support to initiate this year’s fund! This extremely generous commitment by the board is a great kick-off to our campaign, and we hope it will inspire each member of the Sunny Hills community to make their own pledge of support for the vulnerable children we serve every day.
As we come to the end of the calendar year, we face a time when our need for private financial support at the agency is especially great. Long-standing programs like the Marin Academic Center need your help, as do new projects such as the parenting teen program and LGBTQ initiatives at BAYC. Our brand new programs, like Project PRIDE in Sonoma County, cannot get off the ground without private dollars to help them through their initial start up. And every day, we need your support to provide the treatment, the education, the emergency assistance, the advice, the medical care, the support, the person to talk to – whatever help it is that the young people in our programs need. That is our ongoing pledge of support to the vulnerable children and families that we serve, and we are able to keep that pledge with your help.
Our goal for the Annual Appeal this year is to raise $150,000 in gifts and pledges. This is an ambitious goal, especially in the face of the current economic situation, but we are expecting to reach it through small efforts from a large group of supporters. If each member of our donor community is able to make a pledge and commit to giving just $50.00 this year, we would have our most successful appeal on record! I hope you will consider making a gift or donation today. You can visit us online, or contact the Development Office at (415) 457-3200 x165 for more information. Every gift, pledge, and commitment helps.
As we come to the end of the calendar year, we face a time when our need for private financial support at the agency is especially great. Long-standing programs like the Marin Academic Center need your help, as do new projects such as the parenting teen program and LGBTQ initiatives at BAYC. Our brand new programs, like Project PRIDE in Sonoma County, cannot get off the ground without private dollars to help them through their initial start up. And every day, we need your support to provide the treatment, the education, the emergency assistance, the advice, the medical care, the support, the person to talk to – whatever help it is that the young people in our programs need. That is our ongoing pledge of support to the vulnerable children and families that we serve, and we are able to keep that pledge with your help.
Our goal for the Annual Appeal this year is to raise $150,000 in gifts and pledges. This is an ambitious goal, especially in the face of the current economic situation, but we are expecting to reach it through small efforts from a large group of supporters. If each member of our donor community is able to make a pledge and commit to giving just $50.00 this year, we would have our most successful appeal on record! I hope you will consider making a gift or donation today. You can visit us online, or contact the Development Office at (415) 457-3200 x165 for more information. Every gift, pledge, and commitment helps.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Running in the Shadows
I wanted to draw your attention to a recent two-part article that appeared in the New York Times. Running in the Shadows addresses the growing number of young runaways in the United States, exploring how they survive and efforts by the authorities to help them. Part one, Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways, follows Betty, a 14-year old who had run away from home a week earlier after a violent argument with her mother. "Over the past two years, government officials and experts have seen an increasing number of children leave home for life on the streets, including many under 13. Foreclosures, layoffs, rising food and fuel prices and inadequate supplies of low-cost housing have stretched families to the extreme, and those pressures have trickled down to teenagers and preteens." Once on the streets, these young people face harsh circumstances--from sleeping on sidewalks to hiding out in local parks. The second of the two articles, Running in the Shadows: For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival, sheds light on the risky behaviors runaways engage in simply as a means to survive. Studies have found nearly a third of the children who flee home engage in sex for food, drugs or a place to stay.
As more and more families fall into crisis as a result of the weakened economy, it points to the need for programs like the ones offered by Sunny Hills which help resource families and communities. Our work is to reach out to young people and their families before they reach breaking point. The streets are no place for young people.
As more and more families fall into crisis as a result of the weakened economy, it points to the need for programs like the ones offered by Sunny Hills which help resource families and communities. Our work is to reach out to young people and their families before they reach breaking point. The streets are no place for young people.
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