Update Outreach

Organization: Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance

To increase and update outreach and recruitment methods to attract younger and more Latino mentors

Amount: $10,000, 10/13/2021

Community Assessment

Organization: La Luz Center

To conduct, in partnership with the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, a Springs community assessment using community based participatory research to inform program development and planning. Assessment results will also be shared with the other valley organizations.

Amount: 66,154, 10/13/2021

Recovery Grants Summer 2021

Organization: Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley

To provide key senior staff pandemic recognition. Amount: $20,000, 8/20/2021.

Organization: Sonoma Valley Museum of Art

To expand digital and in-home learning tools, tested and piloted during COVID, for its Art Rewards the Students (A.R.T.S.) program for academic year 2021/22. Amount: $20,000, 8/20/2021

Youth Mental Health

Organization: Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley

To seed a pilot program to provide youth mental health counseling services for the 2021-22 school year.

Amount: $64,788, 8/13/2021

Increasing Reading at Home

Organization: Kids Scoop News

This grant helps expand bilingual/bicultural literacy outreach and education to local Spanish speaking families via a parent outreach and engagement worker using social media, one-on-one tutorials and incentive programs.

Amount: $12,500, 7/9/2021

Family Wellness Hubs

Orgainzation: On The Move

This grant to On The Move will help support the creation of new Family Wellness Hubs at eight Sonoma Valley Unified School District school sites through the recruitment and training of a second cohort of parent leaders, or 'promentorias'. Existing parent leaders at each school have already been trained as a community health worker or “Promotora” and they will begin building a second group of peer cohorts in the Spring and, beginning in the Summer, will work with these cohorts to collect input and design the hubs that will be fully implemented in Fall 2021.

Amount: $32,688, 4/23/2021

Fareforeward: Uplifting Teens Thru Art

Organization: Art Escape

Art Escape and Sonoma Immigrant Services (SIS) will provide small groups of teens 2-hour supervised, COVID safe, slots for quiet spaces for study and to do hands-on art projects. This program seeks to alleviate some of the stresses teens are facing by providing a comfortable, safe place with a high value on academics and the benefit of hand work (art).  This gives teens some mental relief, contributing to a better, overall healthy person.

Amount: $12,000, 12/4/2020

Update: The new program is called “Fare Forward” launched on February 9th, once stay at home orders were lifted. A core group of students attended the sessions regularly. One of the teens shared this:

“I have experienced the difficulties of online learning due to COVID-19. I have also witnessed my own community come together in various ways to help those who have been experiencing the hardships of online learning. Recently, I have participated in The Fare Forward Project, which provides me a space to get out of my home environment, providing me access to wifi, printing services, and to get away from family issues and an unfit learning environment. This space has also helped me combat isolation from being home all the time. This program exists because the community understands the many problems students are facing, so they are making an effort to help students navigate online learning and overcome the ongoing negative impacts being experienced.”

Sustaining Mentee Relationships At A Distance

Organization: Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance

Replaces desktop computers with new laptops and training to enable the facilitators to do their weekly check-ins with the 300 mentor and mentee matches outside the closed school offices. It is imperative that the facilitators visually check in weekly and gauge not only the match’s relationship, but also see and hear from the child.

$11,528, 11/20/2020

Update: The laptops were like Christmas to the facilitators - it enabled them to do their ~300 monthly check-in sessions with the mentors/mentees easily without wrestling with old technology and having to be at the mentor centers. Some mentors are beginning to meet outside and in person with their mentees, as conditions and interest allows. The ability to connect so easily and regularly with mentors will be leveraged beyond the pandemic for a higher level of support to their dedicated volunteers, which in turn helps the mentees. Photos courtesy of Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance.

Family Focused Tech Support for Students

Organization: Sonoma Valley Education Foundation

In collaboration with SVEF, the grant will help hire a full time, bi-lingual technology position to focus on providing technology support and assessing needs of struggling students and families for the rest of the school year.

$50,000, 10/16/2020

Update: The SVUSD has hired Sonoma native Heather Harrison as the Bilingual Family Support Technician. She is working directly with students and parents in all schools, as well as collaborating with local youth groups (Mentoring Alliance, B&G Clubs, Teen Services, etc.) to identify struggling students. A ticketing system provides key metric tracking and reporting at monthly School Board meetings. Each month she helps scores of students with their tech issues.

Here’s an excerpt from a recent interview with SVEF:

SVEF: What are some of the ways you've helped students already?

Heather: I help students understand it is normal to feel frustrated and upset when experiencing technical problems with their devices. I also give them simple steps to resolve some technical problems on their own, which gives students a sense of empowerment and independence.

SVEF: What do you hope to do for/with students in this role?

Heather: Technology is ever changing and there is always something new to learn everyday. My hope is to help students and families build confidence and give them tools they can use when common technical issues arise.

SVEF: How can parents and students contact you if they need help?

Heather: Please call our hotline at (707) 385-9408, or email hharrison@sonomaschools.org.