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CCY has received three generous grants
in the past two years which support their long term vision,
one from North Valley Community Foundation and two from The
California Endowment.
NORTH
VALLEY COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
North Valley
Community Foundation awarded CCY a $15,000 grant in May 2001,
as part of their Healthy Alternatives for Youth Initiative.
This grant provided funding for capacity building as well
as for member programs to enhance their services for youth.
The grant has paid for the following activities for youth:
Journey / Focus on the Future
received funding for a trip to the CSU climbing wall and to
the Odyssey Ropes Course, as well as for a four-day camp out
in Lassen National Forest.
Beyond Violence
Alliance received funding to provide violence prevention workshops
for five groups of youth in the North Valley area. These were
implemented with area schools and youth programs in Paradise,
Hamilton City, Durham, and Chico.
Stonewall Alliance Youth received
funding to develop inservice materials to help educate local
school personnel in the needs of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual,
transgender and questioning youth..
Nia Learning Academy received
funding for a Family Book Club, to enhance quality of life
and literacy for families of Nia students and other members
of the community, implemented in Spring 2002.
Theatre On the Inside Out received
funding to provide a summer theatre experience for youth,
focused on building understanding of violence in the lives
of the youth participants. The product was Voices, a powerful
play written by the youth with the theme of family alcoholism
and school bullying. Voices has been presented numerous times
since then at several local schools, and is still available
for presentations.
THE
CALIFORNIA ENDOWMENT
Every
Youth Included - Planning
Grant
The California
Endowment awarded CCY a grant of $100,000 in November 2001,
for Every Youth Included, a planning grant for a new project
to enhance youth empowerment, health and well-being. This
exciting project brings together youth from diverse corners
of the local community to discover the shared needs of local
youth, to work together with concerned adults to develop a
curriculum to meet those needs, and to build their own leadership
and community-building skills. Six youth-serving programs
were involved in the project: Youth and young adults from
Focus on the Future, Nia Learning Academy, Stonewall Alliance
Youth, and TEAM Chapman participated in conducting focus groups
and a facilitator training. Curriculum for the new program
is integrated with approaches used by Theatre on the Inside
Out, Journey and Beyond Violence Alliance.
The grant also provided funding
for capacity-building, to help CCY build a solid foundation
toward long-term financial sustainability. This will help
CCY achieve its long term goals: to provide a full spectrum
of services and advocacy for the diverse youth populations
of the North Valley, and to assist them to succeed as healthy,
creative and financially secure adults.
Every
Youth Included -
Implementation Grant
CCY was awarded
a second grant for $446,575 for three years from The California
Endowment on March 1, 2003, to implement Every
Youth Included (EYI). EYI is a year long program which
engages culturally and ethnically diverse youth in activities
to build resiliency and address serious health and violence
prevention issues in a creative, empowering way. The grant
provides for pilot implementation of Every Youth Included
(EYI) in year one, to be held at the CCY Center. In year two
of the grant, four EYI groups will be offered in communities
through-out Butte County, and in year three, eight groups
will be offered in communities through-out the North Valley
region.
EYI was developed
as a cooperative project involving five community-based programs
in the Chico area: Focus on the Future, Nia Learning Academy,
Stonewall Alliance Youth, A Theatre On The Inside-Out and
Team Chapman. Youth and young adults affiliated with each
of these programs have been trained as a Leadership Facilitation
Team, to facilitate EYI, under the supervision of Group Supervisors
representing each of the programs.
The EYI curriculum is an integration of approaches
used by CCY member programs: A Theatre On the Inside-Out,
Journey-Coming of Age in Today's World, and Beyond Violence
Alliance. It provides arts activities, interactive events,
theatre and adventure, as well as positive peer and adult
support. Adventures will include a camp-out and/or river float
trip, climbing wall, and ropes course. The grand finale for
the year is a theatrical and artistic presentation to the
public, creatively depicting the issues the youth have learned
about during the past year. There will also be a final celebratory
dinner for participating youth and their families, honoring
their work and growth during the program.
Youth who are interested in participating in
Every Youth Included should contact CCY at 566-1806 to sign
up. The program meets weekly on Wednesday afternoons from
3:30 to 5:30. There is no cost for participation, and refreshments
will be provided.
The grant from The Endowment also included funding
for continued capacity-building, to help support CCY's sustainability
into the future. The California Endowment, a private, statewide
health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access
to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals
and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in
the health status of all Californians. Headquartered in Woodland
Hills, The Endowment has regional offices in Los Angeles,
San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno and San Diego, with program
staff working throughout the state. The Endowment makes grants
to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the
health and well-being of the people of California. For more
information, visit The Endowment's Web site at www.calendow.org.
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