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- EIN 52-1494505
- (206) 325-8480
- 999 3rd Avenue Suite 1570 Seattle WA 98104 USA
- www.communityforyouth.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Adult & Child Matching Programs, Children & Youth, Children & Youth Services, Education, Educational Services, Scouting
Mission: Who We Are and What We Do
Only 58.9% of freshman who enrolled in Seattle Public High Schools in 2000, graduated from high school in 2004 (minus confirmed transfers to other schools). 22% of Seattle Public High School students dropped out of high school in 2004. Students in Community for Youth''s programs stay in school and graduate. For the past several years, 90-100% of our students have stayed in school throughout the year. 90%+ of those students who stay in our programs graduate from high school.
CfY is more than a one-on-one mentoring program pairing students from three of Seattle''s high schools - Cleveland, Rainier Beach and Sealth - with adult mentors. It builds a family-like community of students and mentors who support each other.
Students and mentors participate in intensive, growth-focused four-day camps, monthly workshops and community activities that foster life-success skills. This curriculum, focused on building healthy relationships and developing insights, is the foundation of the program''s success.
CfY is transformational for students and mentors alike. It gives them new insights into how to approach their lives.
We place a strong emphasis on mentor training and support. We carefully train our mentors to coach students, keep boundaries, and build healthy relationships.
What makes Community for Youth unique:
- We build a community of support for students and mentors.
- We teach and instill core concepts focused on personal growth and accountability.
- Students and mentors are involved in the selection of their match.
- We place a strong emphasis on mentor training and support.
- We place a staff member in each of our schools during the school day.
Community for Youth''s students:
- 22% live with both parents.
- 68% live in households below the Federal poverty level.
- 92% are students of color.
- Attend schools that have consistently scored at approximately 50% of the statewide meeting standards for each of the sections of the Washington Assessment Student Learning tests.
Students in Community for Youth''s programs show:
- 90-100% of students in our programs stay in school (compared to 78% of Seattle Public High School students).
- 90%+ of those students who stay in our programs graduate from high school (compared to 58.9% of Seattle Public High School students).
- 83% of our students positively changed their behavior and/or achieved their goal.
- 93% of our students reported that they benefited from our program.
- 86% believe they gained a sense of personal accountability.
- 97% feel connected to the community.
The objectives of all CfY programs are to teach, coach and support students to:
- Identify and achieve goals
- Direct their thinking
- Build healthy relationships
We reach these objectives by providing:
- Community and support
- Curriculum
- Coaching and training
Community for Youth transforms high school students who are struggling - with school, with family, with their direction in life - into young adults who have confidence, determination and self-awareness. Supported by a community of adult mentors who are relentlessly committed to their success, teenagers learn to make thoughtful choices, fulfill their commitments, acknowledge their mistakes and account for their actions. By taking control of their lives, students realize they can achieve more than they ever dreamed possible.
Programs: Steps Ahead
Steps Ahead is for freshmen. The program consists of the following:
Pre-launch: Prior to going on the Launch Course, the staff meets with the newly enrolled students and the mentors. Frequently, parents will also attend this pre-launch meeting. At the meeting, staff members provide an overview of the program and its structure and discuss mentor and student roles and responsibilities, as well as the time commitments involved. Students and mentors are introduced to some of CfY's major concepts, such as participating 100%, making a commitment, being accountable and coachable.
The Launch Course: The launch course is a four-day "launch" retreat that students and mentors attend together. There, the supportive community begins to form, trusting relationships start to build and participants learn how their thinking impacts their choices. By the end of the launch course, mentors and students each make a public declaration of a new behavior they want to adopt and identify specific commitments they are willing to make to achieve their goal by the end of the school year.
Match Night: The last day of the launch, students and mentors identify the mentor or student with whom they would like to be matched. CfY staff considers the requests and puts together matches they believe will best benefit students, mentors and the community. Giving students and mentors a choice in their matches is unique among mentoring programs. Match Night happens a few days after the launch course. It is a festive occasion.
The Follow-through Program: Steps Ahead students and mentors meet weekly throughout the school year. The follow-through program consists of a rotation of the following monthly program activities.
The Completion Celebration: At the end of the year, students and mentors gather together in a Completion Celebration to acknowledge the impact they have had on each other's lives. It is a time to recognize the completion of commitments and other accomplishments, as well as to clarify the future of the mentor/student relationship. Students who complete the Steps Ahead program may move into Steps Beyond.
Steps Beyond
Students and mentors who have participated in Steps Ahead have the option of applying to join the Steps Beyond program. Steps Beyond is comprised of sophomores, juniors, seniors, and mentors from Steps Ahead who choose to continue in the program.
Steps Beyond continues to emphasize goal setting, accountability, and self-motivation. The program structure is similar to Steps Ahead, although the one-on-one mentor time is replaced with a small group setting, or family group. A family group consists of 3-4 mentors and 6-8 students. The small groups of mentors and students are designed to develop close-knit relationships that challenge, teach, and provide accountability.
Steps Up
CfY's newest program, Steps Up, addresses two needs. First, our Steps Up students provide support to Program Managers by assisting at Steps Ahead activities. Second, Steps Up is designed to meet the desire expressed by older students to give something back to the CfY community. These students, who have received so much from CfY programs, volunteer to offer their support to students in the Steps Ahead program.
Steps Up students learn the same coaching skills we teach mentors so that they can assist freshmen to maintain their commitments. Steps Up students meet monthly with the Program Manager to learn coaching techniques and leadership skills. Part of their responsibility is to coach students at Steps Ahead workshops and activities. Each Steps Up student is assigned a freshman student to mentor and support during the school day. Selected Steps Up students support the Steps Ahead launch course as Junior Staff.