My Nonprofit Reviews

I have been volunteering with SOAR for Youth for over 10 years, and it has been a delight to work with such Foster Youth in helping them realize their dreams. We each have created and followed an educational and career path in our lives, but for these youth that road is strewn with rocks and holes, or such a path does not even exist. SOAR provides the soft- and hard-skill building blocks and bridges that help their students beat the odds, graduate High School, go to college, and obtain a Bachelor’s or even Master’s degree. I have worked with so many of the students at SOAR via their Summer camp and special events, but have also been an Academic Advocate for ten students. In this role with SOAR, I get to work with the students one-on-one as they move through High School, apply for college and navigate all that goes with such a step. And then watch them walk the stage with diploma in hand – setting these Foster Youth up on a very different path than they otherwise would be on today. That is about having impact and the personal reward and joy it brings for being involved. - Karen Mason