CHRONICLES OF US
A NEW DIRECTION FOR OUR STORIES WRITTEN, PAINTED, AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY YMCA STAFF
CHRONICLES OF US
“US” IS A FOUNDATION. “US” IS A BOND. “US” IS A FUTURE. BUT RIGHT NOW, IT FEELS LIKE THAT BOND THAT UNITES “US” IS FR AYING. WE NEED A PL ACE THAT C AN MAKE US WHOLE- WHERE COMMON GROUND IS PLENT Y, DIFFERENCES ARE ASSETS AND OPPORTUNIT Y IS FOR ALL . THANKFULLY THAT PL ACE EXISTS, RIGHT HERE IN CITIES AND TOWNS ACROSS THE COUNT Y. THE Y FILLS THE GAPS THAT NEED FILLING. NOW MORE THAN EVER, THE Y NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT. BEC AUSE WHERE THERE’S A Y, THERE’S AN US. -YMC A OF THE USA
COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES The YMCA of San Diego County’s Community Support Services’ Chronicle of Us project empowers staff by providing an opportunity to creatively express their stories related to work in social services and their relationship with the Y as a nonprofit organization. Without our team of over 800 compassionate individuals who partner with community members each day, we would not be who we are. In serving over 126,000 individuals each year, we make an impact one...by one...by one. It is a shared commitment we work toward, understanding a critical need to support one another, to find common ground, and to create a better us. The stories that follow were drafted through staff participation in organized workshops contracted with local agencies and artists. We had received over 50 art pieces from our staff, partners and families we serve. With this volume, we hope that you learn more about the issues that we advocate for, how we address them, and the impact we are making in the community. Join us in continuing the story by supporting our work with a donation (www.ymca.org/give). With your gift, receive the full version by adding “chronicle of us” in the comment section on the giving page.
The YMCA of San Diego County is dedicated to improving the quality of human life and to helping all people realize their fullest potential as children of God through the development of the spirit, mind and body.
OU T OF SCHOOL C ARE
E.L.R.
A six-year-old student and I started our day amazed by how nice the sky looked that morning. At the end of the day she was the last one to be picked up, and we also watched the sunset together. Like the sun, I feel that through my work with ASES programs I offer her consistency, and our program offers hope. E.L.R.
STUDENTS AT SUNRISE
SUPPORTING VULNER ABLE YOU TH
TEENS IN MOTION I had been looking forward to visiting YMCA Raintree Ranch with our afterschool program for teens with disabilities for weeks and found myself excited, but uncertain about how the teens would react to the horses. When I finally arrived at the Ranch after a long and twisty drive through the mountains I was greeted with the smell of trees, fresh air, and sweet sweat of horses. The rustic Ranch surrounded by pine trees and camper cabins was quiet, peaceful and still. I headed over to the horse arena to find the teens, not sure what to expect, and found them calmly leading the horses around the arena, brushing and feeding a pony, and amazingly riding horses, most for the first time. The sense of calm, peace and happiness, was overwhelming. On this day Trenton, who is traditionally in an automated wheel chair, was in a manual chair with big wheels that could maneuver the dirt of the horse arena. He was leading a horse on a walk with his mom, dad, and a teen participating in leadership training at Raintree. After a couple of loops Trenton’s mom and dad shared with camp staff that years ago, when Trenton was smaller, riding horses was a special activity for their family, and they would love to figure out a way to get Trenton back on a horse. Trenton now is his early 20’s, is wheel chair bound 100% of the time he is awake. I joined a number of staff to try and figure out how to get Trenton up on a horse. We were presented with challenges around Trenton’s size, the height of the horse, Trenton’s limited ability to stand/move or hold up his body, and a lack of adaptive equipment to hold him on the horse. After a bit of puzzling the team came up with an idea to stack hay bales, pull a horse up next to the hay bales, use a team to lift Trenton up onto the horse, and then surround him with staff that could hold him up while he walked. After a bit of struggling on the part of Trenton’s dad and the team, we were able to lift Trenton onto the horse. At first he struggled a bit with relaxing his body into the new position out of his wheelchair, and on top of the horse. Our team coached him to relax his body. Once he was able to do so he began to smile and wave his arms with excitement. With a group of Y staff and his parents supporting him from every angle Trenton made his way around the arena. Trenton, stuck in his hard metal chair 100% of his day, always seated lower than those around him, was then way up high on top of a large, warm, moving animal, with loving arms supporting him. The moment was overwhelming. Trenton’s mom and dad were crying, staff was crying, videos were being taken, and Trenton was having an experience of his lifetime. I am 100% sure Trenton, his family, and everyone there will never forget this experience. I know I won’t.
QUALIT Y E ARLY LE ARNING
A.R.
GROWING SUCCESS We support kids, families and child care providers to work together, and help kids flourish. No matter the challenge, where some may see weeds, we grow a garden. C.B.
ECONOMIC MOBILIT Y & STABILIT Y
I AM AN ADVOCATE Like thousands of youth around the nation I was born into a life without stable housing due to generational homelessness. My mother was born into a life of homelessness and the same for her mother. Escaping the cycle of chronic homelessness is extremely challenging and often the reason that youth are left unaccompanied. My pursuit of a safe place continuously left me exhausted and empty-handed. I completed multiple homeless vulnerability assessments, but solutions never followed. I soon found that this is a common struggle amongst youth in San Diego. This understanding came from witnessing scores of my peers lining up for access to the free showers before classes started on campus. Seeing so much homeless youth led me to question if society had a solution for such a common issue. I would soon discover that organizations like The YMCA of San Diego County’s Turning Point Transitional Living Program, that provide youth with a safe place to live, are the answer. I attended one of Turning Point’s bi-weekly orientations where every seat was taken and there were people standing in the back. I recognized the struggle around me and knew that an opportunity for stable housing was valuable and not to be wasted. Turning Point gave me a safe place to sleep and I began to receive individualized case management that helped guide my transition into self-sufficiency. I spent my time in the program developing a reliable support network and increasing my connection to resources. For the very first time in my life I felt like I had a foundation from which I could build a brighter future. I spent over a year doing everything I could to prepare myself emotionally, mentally, financially and spiritually for the uphill battle that comes with living independently in San Diego. Towards the end of my time in Turning Point I had truly hit my stride and successfully transitioned out of the program and into a life of self-reliance. During my final months with Turning Point I applied for a position within the YMCA of San Diego County as a Support Specialist inside one of the youth development programs. I was hired for the role and currently spend my days helping underserved youth. I perform a variety of services including gathering resources that will help youth successfully transition into adulthood. Most of the time I refer participants to the very same resources that I used to end my own homelessness. I am also an advocate for runaway/homeless youth on a local and national level. Organizations like the National Youth Advocacy Council provide me a direct connection with policy makers to introduce perspective in matters that affect runaway/homeless youth. I am an example of what a safe place can do for someone and I am forever grateful for the opportunity and support that the YMCA of San Diego County has given me. D.B.
SUPPORTING VULNER ABLE YOU TH
J.B.
The YMCA is a place where the unique and beautiful aspects of all identities, invisible or not, are welcomed, respected and loved. B.P.
EQUITY
CHRONICLES OF US