Side by Side: e-News September 2024

From the Desk of the CEO:

Back-to-School Appeal

Dear Friends,

As CEO of Side by Side, I am grateful for your ongoing support of our organization and our work with youth and families throughout the Bay Area. We hope that we can rely on you as youth continue to wrestle with so many challenges.

Many young people are headed back to school this month. While “back-to-school” is usually full of excitement and anticipation, Side by Side students, clients, and caregivers are anxious. Kids are still suffering from learning losses and social-emotional challenges after the pandemic, and many have suffered family tragedies, homelessness, and difficulties trusting the world around them. Study after study–including those cited by the U.S. Surgeon General–has documented that the rate of youth mental and behavioral health issues is at an all-time high.

The need for Side by Side’s special education, counseling services, drop-in centers, and peer support services has not abated. In fact, the need continues to increase. Please consider supporting our work with a gift of $100, $200, or $300.

DONATE NOW

Many of Side by Side’s programs engage youth through the academic environment, such as our Irene M. Hunt School, which provides special therapeutic education for emotionally and behaviorally challenged students. Other youth are served by Our Space’s LGBTQIA+ peer support groups or our Real Alternatives program that helps transition-age foster youth finish high school or navigate community college. Our North Bay Community Counseling program works with kids as young as five and is embedded in schools throughout Sonoma and Marin.

Our schools and communities are in a youth mental health crisis. Side by Side’s dedicated staff are ready to welcome students back to school and help them develop the resiliency and healing that they so desperately need to thrive.

Your renewed commitment to the young people we serve, and their families, is essential.

With my deep appreciation,

Christine Isana Garcia, PsyD

Chief Executive Officer

Look for Dr. Christine Garcia's perspective in the Side by Side e-News editions. For media requests, contact Katie Rice Jones at krice-jones@sidebysideyouth.org

Community Partnerships

Oakland Pride, Sutter Health, and Our Space

Oakland’s Pride Parade & Festival was on Sunday. We marched, danced, walked, and showed support on the street and at the Sutter Health Pavilion & Health Village.

Sutter’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center brought a mobile mammogram unit, offering free mammograms, and the East Bay Advanced Care clinic offered free HIV testing for attendees. Side by Side's Our Space joined with other community partners --La Clínica de La Raza, Brighter Beginnings, Native American Health Center, Asian Health Services, Bay Area Community Services (BACS), St. Mary’s Center, and EBALDC tabling in the Sutter Health Pavilion & Health Village with their supportive service information.

Thank you, Five Bridges Foundation!

Our CEO, Christine, recently received a call from a Five Bridges Foundation Board member notifying her that Side by Side had been awarded an unrestricted grant of $50K. We are so grateful.

Cheers to you, Sonoma County Vintners Foundation!

We appreciate their $10K grant to support youth art therapy groups provided by Side by Side’s Community Counseling North Bay in partnership with Chops Teen Club in Santa Rosa. Groups will run during the fall and spring semesters.

We appreciate you, Marin Community Foundation!

Side by Side is honored to be one of the 80 organizations that received Marin Community Foundation’s Community Power Initiative grant. We are deeply grateful to have received $450K over three years to strengthen our services and meet the mental and behavioral health needs of marginalized youth.

Supporting Our Partners: Pegasus Riding School

Pegasus Riding School's "Take Flight" program is looking for your support.

"Take Flight" is a transformative equine therapy program pioneered by Pegasus Riding School in Penngrove, California.

The at-risk youth who participate in Take Flight work alongside their peers to make the program come alive, fostering a sense of camaraderie and support.

One of the exciting aspects of the program is the involvement of junior volunteers. Pegasus' junior volunteers enhance the program by assisting each session and building relationships with our CCNB clients and others.

The returning youth clients enjoy reconnecting with the volunteers, sharing jokes, and engaging in fun. This vibrant interaction ensures that while the horses work their magic, the people also form meaningful connections.

If you know a young adult (high school or college-aged) who is willing to volunteer their time on weekday evenings in Petaluma, please have them call Pegasus Founder Judy Jenkins at 707-953-5163.

To learn more about the Take Flight programming at Pegasus in Petaluma, please visit Pegasus Riding School Take Flight Overview.

Upcoming Events

September 2024

Come Play with Us!

Join us for a private performance of

Crossing Delancey,

starring the talented Ross Valley Players,

and benefiting Side by Side.

September 28, 2024

Reception:

6:30 pm

Performance:

7:30 pm

Location:

Ross Valley Players The Barn Theater

Marin Art & Garden Center

30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

Ross, CA

Ticket Price:

$75 p.p.

To purchase your benefit tickets for the private performance, please click HERE

About Crossing Delancey:

A cosmopolitan, uptown Isabelle "Izzy" Grossman wants to thrive in the exciting Manhattan literary world. Izzy’s determined grandmother, Ida, wants Izzy to find a nice Jewish boy and get married. An eccentric matchmaker presents Sam, a humble pickle seller from below Delancey Street.

Will Izzy take a chance?

Inspired by the Golden Globe-nominated 1988 film.

Crossing Delancey

by Susan Sandler

Directed by

Adrian Elfenbaum

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