I have been a volunteer photographer for US4K since 2012 and have always found their events to be very well-run and a wonderful experience for the kids they serve. Their surfing events always have top-notch equipment and an abundance of volunteers to ensure safety in and out of the water. They take the safety of the kids who participate very seriously, which means my photos often cannot show the faces of the kids. They offer meaningful mentoring programs throughout the year and provide opportunities for the kids to get involved in volunteer projects where they serve others. The leaders of this organization are fully committed to making a difference in the lives of the foster kids they serve.
Urban surf has been awesome to our family..my boys love urban surf they have made them feel part of the family with all the support urban surf provides them with..the program has many great opportunities for them to for them to be a part of..it makes them feel like they belong..staff and volunteers r amazing
Urban Surf 4 Kids has been one of the BEST things ever for our family. Our family includes three kiddos (bio siblings) adopted from foster care, two of whom have significant special needs. Programming offered through this program was some of the best around - from how they showed up with a balance in flexibility and structure, warmth of volunteers, blend of ongoing with one-time engagements, etc. All three of my teenagers LOVE this program.
I used to volunteer for them but moved out of the area. This organization is the absolute best! The team is so organized and dedicated to what they do. I am so excited to see the impact that they are making in our communities!
US4K has been nothing short of amazing for my daughter. The volunteers are WONDERFUL - caring, happy, doting, and empathetic. Their outings are so fun and they take such great care to really understand each and every child. I can't imagine not having US4K in my daughter's life...they deserve 10 stars!!!
My grandson came to live with me almost 8 years ago at the age of 7. He came with many special needs, but needed (and craved most), to feel a connection with, (and accepted by), other kids. Urban Surf San Diego provided a safe, nurturing social environment with quality one-on-one volunteers. My kid learned to surf, kayak, paddle board and snorkle through the various Urban Surf outings. He learned to feel safe and part of a community, and benefitted greatly from the role models he met there. Thanks to Roxanne and all the staff and volunteers who have supported us and so many others over the years. Urban Surf rocks!
These are the best, most caring people you will ever meet. Whether participating in an event or just helping with the kids, your heart and soul will elevate knowing you are really helping and having an impact. Come on out and try a surf camp or join a fund-raising effort. You won't be disappointed.
What an incredible organization. Their love and passion for serving these youth and opening the outdoors to them is shown through all they do. I’m so thankful to be apart of an organization that does such amazing work!
Urban Surf 4 Kids has been inspiring! Seeing the work and effort they put in to every child that joins their program, and the results from the experiences these children have with US4K is amazing. I have been fortunate enough to volunteer with Urban Surf on multiple occasions, getting into the ocean with kids for their first time and teaching them how to surf, and you can see the joy they experience. Many of the kids come back year after year and allow US4K to build on their relationship. Amazing work all around!
Incredible organization! The premise of helping young foster and at-risk children to heal through surfing and outdoor mentorship is powerful. The organization is well run and full of compassionate volunteers and employees. This organization reaches so many kids and really is a driving force in the community.
As a lifelong surfer, I know firsthand the positive effect that it has had on my life and well being. To be able to help pass that experience along to displaced youth and see their reaction is truly special and rewarding. To compound the experience, this organization is filled with volunteers, donors, and employees that are amazing to be around and amplify the experience of being a part of US4K.
I started as a Volunteer with Urban Surf at the Surf with the Blind event over 2 1/2 years ago and have been volunteering ever since and have since become a Board Member. So thankful to have found this Non Profit to give my time to as every time I am in doing something productive with all our athletes my energy goes thru the roof and I a beaming with Joy and Happiness helping the Foster Youth have an amazing day sharing my passion surfing! The entire team we have in place is so passionate and driven to achieve greatness with our cause. Come join us. You won't be disappointed!!
I have been involved with Urban Surf 4 Kids as both a volunteer and Board Member going on three years now. I would like to think that Urban has had just as big of impact on my life as I have been able to help give to the organization and the different athletes I have been able to share my passion for the ocean with. Urban operates primarily off the bootstraps of the passionate and dedicated volunteers and fellow board members that keep its mission going. I cannot be more grateful for having connected with this amazing group when I did!
I do not even know where to begin to express how much US4K has changed the lives of the children I am raising.
I am a 66 year old woman who has had five special needs children who have benefited from this amazing nonprofit and their compassionate volunteers.
Seven years ago, my first grandson in my care, Carlo, began with Urban Surf He is hearing impaired and has experienced complex trauma including being in a house that was shot up in during a drive by shooting. His complex trauma history included: in - utero drug exposure, premature birth, abuse and multiple surgeries and hospitalizations,
The US4K volunteers developed a very unique and personalized relationship with him. Through that relationship, he developed a love of surfing and a deep respect for the ocean. In addition he learned to surf with a therapy surf dog belonging to US4K volunteers
Carlo is also in the US4K Hanai Mentoring Program. Through that program he was able to participate in different activities such as kayaking, paddle boarding, hiking, surfing, and snorkeling. He would’ve never had these opportunities without this program.
Carlo has healed so much through US4K.
My other children came into my care in January. They lost their mom three years ago and in January, their Grandmother who was raising them passed away from COVID. All of the children have special needs and have also experienced complex trauma including abuse and neglect.
They were extremely fearful of going in the water or establishing trusting relationships.
I am so grateful to Urban Surf 4 Kids We have all seen so much growth in these children since they started with US4K. Their therapists and other professionals that see them on a regular basis are so happy with their healing progress. So much of it has occurred during their time spent With the Hanai mentoring program and in the ocean and on the shores with the Urban Surf volunteers.
The staff and the volunteers work so hard to create change in the lives of the children. I will forever be grateful for the change they have made in mine
I moved from the East Coast to San Diego this year and was eager to find a way to volunteer at a surf camp. I have experience with adaptive surfing camps for children and adults and find it to be very rewarding. Little did I know that volunteering with urbansurf would become my new favorite summer activity.
Being able to share a love of the ocean with a child has been such a fulfilling experience. I even had a child's family tell me how surprised they were that their child was having so much fun and swimming into deeper water and was fearless of larger waves than they'd encountered before.
It's a really special feeling to be part of something so meaningful and to see the kids, families, and other volunteers return week after week with smiles on their faces. To be able to bring happiness to these children who have been through unimaginable hardships has made me feel I have a purpose in my new community.
We are grandparents who are raising our four grandsons. Urban Surf 4 Kids has been so good for our family. In teaching the boys to surf they have also learned to trust, how to persevere, developed self esteem, and have felt a sense of belonging and acceptance. I cannot give this program a high enough praise.
My grandchild arrived at their first Urban Surf 4 Kids camp at 6 years old, afraid of the ocean and was gently encouraged and supported. Now at nearly 13 years old, they are sharing their love of surfing by mentoring other young surfers in the water. Alex even spoke at an Urban surf therapy camp on how surfing helps their mental health. Urban Surf 4 Kids has brought Alex surfing skills, self-esteem and the skills to support others along the with the wonderful Hanai family values.
This was such an amazing experience. We have attended two years in a row and each time the kids have been safely cared for and supported with a lot of enthusiasm. They love to surf now!
I began volunteering with Urban Surf 4 Kids in 2022. Since my first impression on the initial phone call to each in-person volunteering experience, it is clear that all the staff at US4K is highly invested, knowledgeable, and capable of doing this important work with children in foster care. It has been a really great experience to learn more about the good work that US4K is doing and to get to meet other volunteers, many of whom have been involved with the organization for multiple years! I highly recommend supporting US4K in any way that you're able.
Wonderful group giving at risk youth the opportunity to learn to surf, love the ocean and give back to their communities. This group has tirelessly and enthusiastically assisted the Encinitas Lions Club annual Blind Surf Event, held in Sept at South Ponto Beach. The youth aid visually impaired persons enjoy a day at the beach. As many as 75 blind participants get in the water, on a board and experience "surfing". It takes 5 sighted people to assist 1 blind person. Urban Surf 4 Kids provide dozens of youth in the water, serving breakfast and lunch to our guests, making the feel welcome, wanted and empowered.
Empowerment and Encouragement
I have been a volunteer with Urban Surf 4 Kids for nearly 8 years and during that time I have seen hundreds of kids who have experienced homelessness, abuse, neglect and other hardships reach a level of empowerment and self discovery I don’t think they could have imagined. It is in no small part through the unending encouragement they get from volunteers and staff at Urban Surf 4 Kids as well as their foster/kinship/care families that this happens for them.
I have seen kids start in a shell of self doubt and uneasiness become teenagers and young adults with confidence and bravery extending themselves to give back to the very community that fostered their growth as in-water volunteer mentors, speakers at our events and mentors in our other programs. To see this kind of empowered giving has been an amazing sight considering that kids who have experienced the foster care system are 6 times as likely to become homeless or imprisoned in their lives than the general population and as many as 60% of foster youth are statistically expected to meet that statistic at some point in their lives.
I serve with dozens of tireless volunteers and staff members who have given so deeply of themselves throughout the years to care for our community of participant athletes and mentors to overcome those expectations and rise above, whether we're doing a surf camp for members of our community with visual impairments (Surf With The Blind & Visually Impaired), our mentorship activities or a surf camp for kids in foster care.
While there are dozens of truly inspiring, moving stories that I’ve witnessed and been a small part of, I will tell just one.
A young participant, we’ll call him C, came to Urban Surf 4 Kids with a number of ailments due to being born addicted to drugs. His hearing is impaired and he had trouble understanding others in their communication. He became a participant at Urban Surf 4 Kids and developed a relationship with his mentor Greg, they became fast friends and surfed together throughout the summers. One summer when he went home for a visit he was sleeping in bed when the house he was staying in was a target of a drive by shooting. One of the bullets was lodged in the bed frame inches above C’s head and it left him so traumatized he didn’t speak for weeks.
The next chance the family got they brought him to one of our surf camps where he saw his mentor Greg and told him about it, the first words he’d spoken in weeks were to his surf therapy mentor who assured him he was safe and sound. They spent the day surfing and hanging around, enjoying the small things, small huh? Months later 10 year old C was the best man at his mentor Greg’s wedding and still visit each other often for a day at the beach or at one of Urban’s surf camps all these years later.
The power of mentorship and encouragement lives right there in these two because of their willingness to give to and share with each other, brought together by Urban Surf 4 Kids.
Again, there are dozens of these stories to be told by the families of kids saved by Urban Surf 4 Kids and volunteer mentors whose lives have been changed by their interactions and the change they’ve been a part of in a child’s life. I keep coming back to Urban because I get to see these life changing stories take place and make a difference in the lives of the kids we serve.
Want to see more?
Check out https://www.hymkr.co/reef-first-beach to see how Urban Surf 4 Kids, in partnership with Reef, brought foster youth from Arizona to see the beach for the first time in their lives and experience San Diego’s beauty for five days, read A Summer of Giving https://urbansurf4kids.org/2018/09/23/a-summer-of-giving or come experience the magic of serving children in need for yourself at one of our surf camp events (https://urbansurf4kids.org/our-events/).
Humbly in service of others,
A Volunteer at Urban Surf 4 Kids
Urban Surf 4 Kids has been amazing for my daughter. Adapting to her anxiety and sensory issues, The mentors meet her where she is each time: from building castles and moats in the sand, to floating on the board, to up on her knees, to standing on the board, wherever she is that day they work with her to ensure she enjoys herself and builds her self esteem. We love Urban Surf and hope to continue for years to come.
My daughter is diagnosed with Autism,
anxiety, and Sensory Processing Disorder. She used to hate the feel of the sand and dislike the beach for fear of touching it and getting wet. She is also a gymnast and I knew that she had the balance and athleticism to surf if she truly found the right mentor and believed in herself. Urban Surf 4 Kids has been such an amazing experience for us. My daughter has bonded with some of the volunteers that are regulars. They cheer her on and encourage her. The volunteers carefully take her lead and have been open to learn about her and how she works. They gently guide her on the board and then allow her breaks to play in the sand and in the water (something she used to be scared of doing!). She loves the one-on-one attention and I can relax when she is in the water knowing someone is always right there with her. Safety is always a top concern of theirs. We are so blessed to have found this amazing organization and look forward to many more surf experiences.