Petaluma Community Foundation

Programs: In september 2016, pcf funded a new collaboration to support vulnerable youth. Grants were made to mentor me ($5,000) and boys and girls clubs of marin and petaluma ($5,000) for the reach alliance, which seeks to reach youth deemed most at-risk and/or currently engaging in juvenile delinquent behavior and redirect risky behaviors into positive life choices. This effort builds on the youth-at risk alliance guided and funded by pcf over the past two years, totaling $100,000 in grants to catalyze 10 organizations to better coordinate their resources and expertise to serve at-risk youth from preschool through adolescence. The primary goals of the reach alliance between mentor me and boys and girls club include: recruit mentors for a one-on-one matchshare training on substantive areas of expertisemake cross-referrals for individual mentoring and group programmingcoordinate evidence-based data collection to assess impactshare facilities to maximize program opportunitiesthe commitment of these organizations to work together has successfully resulted in expanded and enhanced support for vulnerable youth and their families. Together, mentor me and bgc held two joint mentor recruitment events that recruited 39 new mentors. Thirty bgc staff members attended a training to learn about mentoring, mentor me, the reach alliance, and how to nominate kids in their clubhouses for group and one-on-one mentoring. Twenty-six bgc youth were nominated to mentor me and began group mentoring and other programming including homework clubs, community outings, art shows, and job and college counseling. Fourteen youth were matched with one-on-one mentors case managed by mentor me staff, and the remainder will be matched by this fall. Together mentor me and the boys & girls club also established a program for bgc teen members to develop new leadership and mentoring skills and gain community support. Bgc teens attended two trainings about mentoring, peer mentoring, leadership and citizenship. Finally, as a result of this collaboration, mentor mes mentor center at mcdowell elementary school began to work in partnership with the bgc clubhouse at mcdowell, cross-nominating youth for participation in both clubs and resulting in five new mentorships. Additionally, in may 2017, pcf sponsored and participated in the first annual petaluma community engagement fair. The event drew dozens of nonprofit exhibitors and hundreds of participants who were looking for ways to give back to their community.