SOAR FOR YOUTH
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Mission Statement
SOAR for Youth helps Bay Area foster youth move through adolescence and into their adult lives with independence. We teach, coach, and counsel our young people in academics, leadership, life skills, and emotional intelligence. We provide them with activities that build trust, promote teamwork, and enhance self-esteem. The SOAR program aims to help our young people graduate from high school, attend college, and succeed in life with purpose.
About This Cause
Imagine a childhood in which, sometimes every few months, you experience a new family, a new town, and a new school, losing connection, continuity, and academic cohesion with every move. That is the life of a foster youth. Being a youth in the foster care system poses unique and daunting academic and life challenges. The typical foster youth experiences multiple placements (over a third of foster youth have at least five), each involving a transition into a new school and loss of academic progress. As a result, nation-wide only about half of foster youth age out of the system with a high school diploma, and only 20% of those high school graduates go on to pursue a college degree. However, social services professionals have identified a number of protective factors that can substantially improve the outcome for youth aging out of the foster care system. Several of these are the focus of SOAR for Youth (SOAR) program. In fact, out of the nine protective factors identified by Health and Human Services, SOAR provides training and support in six. Below are example of the services and classes we offer in these areas. 1. Self-regulation skills: Seven Habits of Effective Teens, How traumatic events trick the brains and what we can do about it, Future Vision Story Boarding, Making Responsible Choices for Your Body, Recovery, Mindfulness and Reflection. 2. Relational skills: Leadership Presence, True Colors (personality types), Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Human Trafficking. 3. Academic skills: Study Skills, Math, Writing Workshops, Computer Classes, Project Management, SMART, Effective Presentation. 4. Caring Adults: Academic Youth Sharing, Career Panel, support, mentoring, and advice from SOAR Counselors and Academic Advocates, school-year staying-connected events. 5. Positive School Environment: College Orientation, Foster Youth Educational Planning Guide, College Tours, Personal Statement 101 and College Application Questions, SAT/ACT Tips and Strategies. 6. Support for Independent Living: 360 Career Catalyst, Resume Creation, Job Search and Application Process, Dress for Success and Interview Preparation, mock interviews, financial literacy, Cooking Matters, summer internship opportunities. SOAR was established in 2009. With generous support from the community, SOAR completed its pilot only four months after our incorporation. Our progress since then has been excellent: accumulatively 93% of our high school seniors graduated on time (98% graduated). 92% of them went on to college; 40% to a 4-year university, including UC Berkeley, UCLA, and St. Mary’s. Each year, a new group of SOAR youths (in grades 6-8) is carefully selected. Once admitted, the cohort receives 5-10 years of sustained support, beginning with four consecutive years of residential pre-collegiate summer academies (Prepare To SOAR, Learn To SOAR, Time To SOAR, and SOAR To College). The 4th academy, SOAR To College, was launched in 2020. In addition to the summer academies, we host events throughout the year to help our young people stay connected, to make them feel they have a home base to return to, and to remind them there are people who care about their future. These events reinforce the academic, social, and emotional support provided in the summer academies. In 2012 SOAR added academic support to help ensure that our summer program graduates pursue an educational course leading to the fulfillment of their life goals and a bright future. This advocacy has been expanded to address the pressing needs of those who are still in the summer program and through at least their first year in college. The services include youths having an academic advocate, a computer, workshops, and access to tutors. SOAR pursued the American Camp Association (ACA) accreditation for our summer academies in 2013, in order to leverage ACA standards to formalize our processes. SOAR has kept up with the standards, which have been immensely helpful in adjusting to the pandemic. In 2018 SOAR launched a Summer Internship Program to motivate and reward our summer program graduates for their academic excellence. The pilot was a huge success. We deepened this offering in 2020 by paying for transportation costs in addition to a stipend. SOAR strives to be a community in which our youths can grow up to realize their full potential. We cater to our young peoples’ needs and offer our support relentlessly, continuously, without ever giving up. We are committed to helping our young participants discover who they are and what they can become and to bringing them hope and a bright future. In 2021/22 SOAR will continue to: • Further deepen our services • Strengthen our community partnerships • Cultivate a dedicated network of volunteers • Start transitioning to a robust non-profit with permanent staff so that we can serve more youths and have a wider impact