With the COVID-19 crisis impacting low income communities of color, a local nonprofit is adapting its efforts to ensure that kids who already face obstacles are not left even further behind.
Friends of the Children SF Bay Area is helping nearly 100 underserved youth in San Francisco's Bayview with academic and emotional support.
"The families are often challenged by issues like domestic violence, substance abuse, most of them live in public housing and they're all children of color, so they face issues like institutional racism," Executive Director Michael Rugen said.
Those barriers have been amplified during the global pandemic. Rugen said many families have lost jobs and health insurance. Their model works to empower children to break the generational cycle of poverty.
Friends of the Children starts with pairing kids with professional mentors at an early age.
"We start with every child in kindergarten and we commit to stay with them all the way through high school graduation," Rugen said. "We don't wait for mom or teacher to come say 'my child needs a mentor.'"
Because the pandemic has shutdown schools and deprived kids of face-to-face contact with their mentors, the organization is making sure they still get the support they need.
"We have provided laptops to about 25% of of our kids who didn't have the technology they needed to keep up with their school work," Rugen said.
The group is also delivering meals to families on a regular basis.
Cedric De Rosas mentors children ages seven to nine.
"Before, we were involved in almost everything in their lives. We had access to their classrooms. We were in houses with families," he said. "We've shifted into what we call mobile mentoring."
During the pandemic, mentors have been using video chat to connect with kids.
"We also communicate with their teachers. We try to stay involved with the families even from afar," De Rosas said.
Much of what De Rosas has learned is that kids need a consistent, caring adult to look up to in order to succeed in life.
"What they really want is to be heard and to be noticed. It's very easy to tell when those who are seeking it are getting it," he said.
Data shows 83% of children involved with the Friends of Children program have graduated from high school, 93 percent have avoided involvement with the juvenile justice system, 98% have avoided becoming teen parents and 92 percent have gone on to college, employment or military service.
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