Aging UP, a Sacramento nonprofit founded in 2016, empowers youth with experience in foster care to successfully transition into adulthood.
Currently, youth from foster care are statistically our community's most at-risk demographic. They disproportionately face unemployment, homelessness, early pregnancy, incarceration and long-term physical and mental health issues.
Aging UP fulfils the unmet needs of youth with experience in foster care by providing one-to-one mentoring, positive recreation and independent living skills education.
Mentoring is the heart of Aging UP. Research continues to prove that the connection with a safe, stable and caring adult helps young people heal from trauma and improves their overall resiliency.
Aging UP mentors are adult volunteers who successfully complete a thorough screening process and more than 16 hours of trauma-informed, strength-based training. Mentors are then matched with youth, based on the youth's personality, needs andpreferences. Once matched, mentor and youth engage in activities that help develop a genuine friendship while exposing the youth to new possibilities.
The mentoring relationships are enhanced through group events. MeetUPs offer positive recreation, where matches enjoy physical, creative and unique activities together. The focus is to simply let teens have fun. Educational UPshops provide expert-led workshops that utilize a fun, hands-on approach toward self-sufficiency. Topics include healthy living, college and career development, financial literacy and more. Group events offer a stigma-free environment where youth enjoy new experiences, peer support andadditional adult role models.
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