Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King was the wife of the famous civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., and was a civil rights activist known for her advocacy in ending injustice within the country. Her known passion was to work for peace and justice organizations within America.

Coretta Scott King joined her husband in civil rights activism, taking part in the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott, along with efforts to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

After the assassination of her husband, she continued her work to be active in the civil rights movement.

In addition, she created her own legacy in the movement to end injustice. She was the founder of the Martin Luther King jr., center for nonviolent social change. Throughout her life, she dedicated most of it to empowering women to play a significant role in shaping society, and to fight for the unheard and the voiceless.

We salute the many non-profit organizations in our region. They may be robust operations that perform heavy lifting with big rograms. They may be feet-on-the-street teams that distribute small luxuries to nsure a sense of dignity among the needy. They may even be swabbing the kennel floors of our four-legged friends that eagerly await to find their final loving home. They are energized by selfless individuals who think of nothing but giving back and paying forward. They are unsung heroes who we wish to recognize and applaud.

Our sponsors play an important role in recognizing our volunteer and charitable institutions. Their generosity helps make it possible to salute the extraordinary non-profits that demonstrate their willingness to uplift, support and develop others.

Sponsored by www.aeoe.org

Let’s tip our hats to the following remarkable Silicon Valley Nonprofits!

The Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (AEOE) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance the impact of environmental and outdoor education in California. Founded in 1954 as one of the first associations for outdoor educators in the nation, we are now the state affiliate of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), the largest network of environmental education (EE) providers in the world. Environmental education is “the education we need for the world we want.” AEOE was established to provide a space for educators to connect, establish a supportive community, and share best practices for teaching about the outdoors and the environment. We envision a world where every young person lives in a healthy community with access to meaningful learning experiences outdoors. Our efforts are focused in the following areas:

CONNECT We convene program providers to build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive network of skilled practitioners

EDUCATE We provide learning opportunities that are aligned with best practices and content relevant for our field

ADVANCE We promote high-quality environmental education among the varied programs across the state and advocate for all young people to experience meaningful learning opportunities outdoors www.kylejtaylor.org

We believe that everyone has the right to the physical, social, emotional, and academic benefits of learning outdoors. As the professional association for environmental and outdoor education in California, AEOE provides programs and practitioners with the tools, resources, and expertise to ensure that future generations are equipped with the skills, knowledge, and experiences necessary to develop lifelong connections to the natural world and the commitment to sustain it.

Our foundation is in honor of our son who passed away from Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA).

The Kyle J. Taylor Foundation is a nonprofit in honor of Kyle Taylor. He passed away in Feb. 2018 from Sudden Cardiac Arrest at the age of 18. Kyle was a healthy, active young man with no known heart issue. His family did not know that someone healthy could suddenly suffer a Sudden Cardiac Arrest and pass away. They started the foundation to bring awareness to Sudden Cardiac Arrest in Youth through community education in the San Jose and South Bay Area. They provide free youth heart screenings, donate AEDs to sports programs, and provide CPR/AED Training. Why is this important? 1 in 300 youth have an undiagnosed heart condition that puts them at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. 9500 youth are affected by SCA every year, about 10% survive, which is about 7000 youth die every year in this country due to SCA. Often the first sign of a heart condition is a sudden cardiac arrest, which was Kyle’s case. Our current standard of annual physicals miss about 85-90% of the issues that cause SCA as they cannot be heard through a stethoscope. Here are a few other statistics about SCA.

• #1 killer of student athletes

• Leading cause of death on school campuses

• #2 medical cause of death under age 25

Visit www.nextdoorsolutions.org

Next Door Solutions (NDS) is the premier domestic violence agency in Santa Clara County. We are the only stand-alone domestic violence agency and the largest provider of these services.

In 1971, our founder Bea Robinson Mendez, concerned about the lack of services and options for domestic violence survivors, gathered a small group of her friends to figure out a solution. They set up a shelter in a garage and established a hotline number to provide information and support to survivors. Unbeknownst to them, it would become the second domestic violence agency in California and the first bilingual domestic violence shelter in the nation. So began the story of Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence (NDS).

Domestic violence is the most prevalent form of gender-based violence, often the most frequently reported crime to law enforcement, and arguably the one with the greatest damaging effect on children and youth. We are the only stand-alone, domestic violence agency in Santa Clara County, answering approximately 15,000 crisis calls and serving an average of 3,000 survivors of domestic violence annually. Our comprehensive, compassionate, bilingual services are available free of charge to all women, men, LGBTQ and individuals across the gender spectrum and of varying abilities.

Our Mission

Our mission is to end domestic violence in the moment and for all time!

Our Vision

Our vision is of a community environment that breaks the silence, views and treats domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence as unacceptable upholds supportive accountability for those who harm, and where survivors and families have the support and resources to achieve the highest quality of life possible.

Our History www.alumrockcc.org

In 2021, Next Door Solutions celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The mission of Alum Rock Counseling Center (ARCC) is to heal families and inspire youth to reach their full potential. Since 1974, ARCC’s behavioral health & educational support programs have served as a lifeline for many under-resourced youth (age 0-21) and families in Santa Clara County, with a focus on their founding region of East San Jose. The agency serves an extremely low-income population, including a large number of immigrant families, where caregivers are monolingual Spanish-speakers and/or where at least one adult is undocumented, making it difficult for them to navigate the educational and healthcare systems. As a result, without intervention, many youth fall into multigenerational cycles of substance use, juvenile delinquency, school failure, and sustained poverty.

Today, ARCC serves 6,000+ youth and families annually with the overarching goal of keeping high-risk youth safe, in school, and drug & violence free. The agency currently offers the following culturally/linguistically sensitive behavioral health programs & school-based services, ranging from prevention and early intervention through to trauma recovery and support:

• Youth Mentoring

• Individual & Family Counseling

• Trauma Education & Recovery

• Life Skills Development

• Drug and Alcohol Prevention Education

• Connecting Families to Needed Resources (e.g., food banks, housing support, vision/dental care)

• Child Abuse/Neglect Prevention

• Parenting Training & Support

• School-based Counseling & Intervention

The pandemic has led to unprecedented challenges for many of the families whom ARCC serves. The Latinx community, especially, has been ravaged by COVID-19, suffering the highest proportion of COVID cases and deaths of any ethnic group in Santa Clara County. Other youth experienced extreme financial hardship and/or suffered from prolonged exposure to unhealthy or abusive environments. Now, as students come back to the classroom, in many cases bringing with them unresolved traumas and grief, the need for behavioral health and counseling is more critical than ever before. As we have for 47 years, ARCC’s staff & counselors are standing by, ready to support them and help them find their way back to possibility, healing, and hope.