(Congratulations to Latinx Mentoring Program Little Sister, Andrea, who after receiving her laptop donated by G5, was able to apply for three scholarships. She new has $1,700 towards college tuition | Photo Courtesy of J Bar J Youth Services)
There are many trapdoors for youth, missteps on their path to adulthood, where they might fall into a place that is hard to climb out of. The vulnerable start life on the wrong side of the opportunity gap and have trouble envisioning themselves as successful adults. Once they fall into places like homelessness or involvement with the juvenile justice system, many spend a lifetime struggling and never recover. Others face a lack of resources or mentors to awaken their potential. J Bar J Youth Services offers a wide range of programs working directly with youth, to help them overcome adversity, learn how their thoughts and beliefs influence their choices and how to create productive futures for themselves.
In our community, there are families in crisis, at risk of losing their children into foster care. Statistics tell us, when children remain in their own family they fare better. By offering these families a support network, a support family helping the family in need through mentorship and perhaps temporary housing of the children, challenged parents can work toward stability. Kindred Connections is able to provide this mentorship and support.
Youth who are homeless, runaway or at risk of running away benefit from the support of Cascade Youth & Family Center and LOFT shelter. There, counselors and case managers can mediate with families and offer emergency shelter while families resolve issues. The kids that have no home to return to, homeless kids looking for their next meal and worried about where they will sleep to be safe from those who would prey on them, usually drop out of school. Bringing kids into safe shelter is a primary goal of CYFC. Some kids need services but don’t want shelter, and our job becomes supporting from the street. Helping kids stay in or finish school, find work and build life skills are core components of the services at Cascade Youth & Family Center. We offer hope and a chance at a better future.
Girls who become pregnant while they are homeless or abused find safety and a new home at Grandma’s House. Also, young mothers under 18 who must stay in Bend for medical treatment for their babies have few options, as most shelters cannot take minors alone. Giving these moms the help and tools they need to become self-sufficient not only helps them out of their trapdoor, it narrows the opportunity gap for their babies.
Children are shown to do better in school, achieve a higher level of education and are less likely to engage in the justice system when they have mentors. Knowing this, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Oregon matches Bigs with Littles, to ignite and defend their potential. This year, with COVID, the organization has stepped up assistance with families of their Littles far beyond match support. Although we are an affiliate of the national BBBS program, all donations to us stay here, helping kids in Central Oregon.
Other J Bar J programs include The at: project, providing case management helping victims of human trafficking become survivors; J Bar J Boys Ranch and J5, residential treatment programs for boys in the juvenile justice system and the Academy at Sisters, a therapeutic boarding school for girls.
Our mission: J Bar J Youth Services offers innovative options for at-risk youth and families who are working toward self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. Our goal? To see youth succeed as happy, healthy adults who contribute to their community.
This year, we lost our largest fundraiser, the Oregon High Desert Classics. This event usually brings hundreds of horses and many participants to Central Oregon. The revenue supports all of our programs. We were able to create a virtual event which was both fun and helped a little, but without rider entry fees, only raised a small portion of the live event. Without the Oregon High Desert Classics, we face a large funding gap this year, and need your help more than ever. Please consider supporting J Bar J Youth Services and our many programs with a donation today.
