Imagining Possibilities

Many San Francisco youth in the juvenile justice and foster care systems have spent their entire lives missing out on some of the great things San Francisco has to offer.  Imagine growing up in San Francisco, yet never spending a day at the beach or visiting the zoo.  Or never seeing a live musical performance.  Imagine never experiencing any of the vast array of cultural activities San Francisco has to offer.  Imagine growing  up in a San Francisco where your knowledge of street names is based on claims of gang territory, so that you know what streets to avoid.  Imagine growing up in a San Francisco where everyone around you has lived their life that same way – never able to take advantage of many of the great things San Francisco has to offer.  Not only would you be missing out on one of the greatest cities in the world, you would not even know what you were missing out on.

This is the experience of many youth entering the juvenile justice system and foster care systems in San Francisco.  Kids that are able to experience these things have something that others do not.  They see possibilities.  They can imagine themselves one day participating in these activities.  It can give them something to look forward to, something to strive towards, something to aspire to be.  Something more than avoiding that intersection two blocks away where the local street dealers peddle their poison.  Something more than imagining that you will inevitably end up working for that same sad crew, just like your cousin or your brother did.

Because not every child grows up fortunate enough to bring themselves out of troubled neighborhoods and into seeing other possibilities, we bring the possibilities to them.  Last year, San Francisco Zoo Mobile paid a series of visits to several of the Juvenile Hall units.  The youth that enjoyed these visits learned about biodiversity, interacted with live animals, and learned about the illegal trade in endangered species.  This year’s programs have included a series of visits from Buzzy “Guitar Man” Martin.  While the “Guitar Man” played music for the youth, he also talked to them about following their dreams and demonstrating to society that they have as much potential as anyone else, just as he himself had done.  Just today, Shakespeare on Tour performed “MacBeth” for the boys from Log Cabin Ranch as well as for several of the units within Juvenile Hall.  Visits like these inspire youth.  They give them something to look forward to oustide of what they see in their everyday life.  They help them to imagine other possibilities.

City Youth Now has partnerships with a number of other organizations that help bring possibilities to life inside the walls of Juvenile Hall.  We also provide opportunities to youth that are on probation or in the Foster Care system, including gym memberships, martial arts classes, art classes, and singing and dancing classes.  You can read more about our programs and partnerships here: http://www.cityyouthnow.org/programs/programs-at-juvenile-hall.

Youth that are not physically in juvenile hall can be just as isolated from opportunity as those who are.  Whether the result of a lack of resources, a lack of knowledge, or something else altogether, City Youth Now works to remove those obstacles and replace them with possibilities.  A six to eight week course of singing or dance classes costs around $200.  For about $50 a month, we can provide a gym membership or martial arts classes.  These costs are not great considering the priceless impact that such a simple gift can have on the life of a child.

In order to continue providing these opportunities for San Francisco youth in crisis, we need your help.  A donation in any amount will help us to bring possibilities to those who may otherwise be unable to even imagine them.  Click here to make a fast and easy donation in any amount: http://www.cityyouthnow.org/get-involved/donate-now.  Help us provide these opportunities so that no child in San Francisco feels hopelessly or helplessly locked in a prison of unfortunate circumstance or lack of opportunity.  This should never happen when all it takes to prevent it is to help them imagine what is possible.

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