Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

With the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates making headlines, some are concerned about how it will impact organizations who receive grants from them. I wanted to take a closer look at their non-profit to see what their goals are for the future. They do not do their work alone, they work with government, business and other non-profit organizations to achieve their goal of tackling the world's greatest inequities. They work to build a bridge between private and public sectors, for example: distributing vaccines to countries that may not have a “buyers market” in the private sector. They want to improve human conditions where governments and businesses leave gaps in the market, often to save lives from preventable diseases. They also create high quality data and evidence to show what is and is not working.

Their main focus is to accelerate innovation when it comes to health issues faced by people living in poverty. As an organization they can take risks that private companies cannot afford to pay, giving scientists the resources they need to innovate for the benefit of those who cannot afford to pay. Through their organization they have created The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. “Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has distributed over $45 billion to 155 countries, saving an astonishing 38 million lives and offering care, treatment, and prevention to hundreds of millions more.” Although Bill and Melinda Gates have decided to end their marriage, I foresee them continuing to build their organization for the greater good. Their humanitarian work to eradicate preventable diseases in poverty is not done alone, but a group effort among different private and public sectors to save millions of lives.

440 5th Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109

The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project was founded in 1988 by the creators of the Academy-Award winning short film, TREVOR.  It is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people under 25 years old. The work they are doing is imperative for their community, because research shows that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Their research has shown that over 1.8 million LGBTQ youth consider suicide each year. 

I think of my sister, Emma. She was 13-years old in January 2018 when she died by suicide. Before her death, she shared with our parents that she had feelings towards girls. After my sister's death and learning these alarming statistics, I felt it was time for me to confront my own feelings and sexuality. Although I felt tremendous pressure about coming out, in December of 2018 I let my family know that I am bisexual, and I no longer wanted to pretend otherwise. Even for someone like me, who comes from a supportive and open-minded family, it was still a struggle for me to accept that I am different and share that with my family and friends. It's difficult to imagine the thousands of children suffering in silence who feel they won't be accepted. The Trevor Project is doing their part to ensure LGBTQ children have a safe space to express themselves. 

The Trevor Project offers 24/7 support and crisis intervention through their text/call line, where they reach several thousand children per year. They also created TrevorSpace, the largest and safest social media space for LGBTQ youth in over 100 countries. Their ultimate goal is to end the LGBTQ+ suicide crisis. They've developed a 3-year plan from 2020-2023 that is available to view here. If you are interested in volunteering with The Trevor Project, you can submit an application here. 

Foster from Within: Peace4Kids Allies for Children With Lived Experience in Foster Care

33 miles from Orange, California will take you to a seemingly distant and different world of South Los Angeles. Behind the curtains of freeways lie historical red-zones built to segregate people of color. Generations of families are kept in poverty, likely because underfunded schools and communities have exasperated violence and disease. Families struggle to overcome generational trauma and as a result, Los Angeles has the largest foster care system in the United States of America. 

I spoke to Miriam Cortez-Cáceres, Program Coordinator of Peace4KidsLA, and a bright, resilient alumna of the Los Angeles foster care system. Peace4Kids is a non-profit organization, founded in 1988, that works as an ally to children and young adults in foster care. They’ve built a youth driven program to support children through choice-driven personal agency. Miriam is especially passionate about the work at Peace4Kids because of her lived experience in the foster system. 

When Miriam was 9 years old, she and her siblings were removed from their parents home because of abuse and alcoholism. Her parents were undocumented, and her mom was a refugee of the Salvadorian Civil War. She says housing, security, poverty and unfair wages influenced the way her parents raised them. She reflects on the experience, 

“I really believe at the core of my heart tried to be as present as possible with us, and as patient as they could. But these overwhelming obstacles in their lives had an effect in their relationship with us so they were addicted to drugs and there was alcoholism and there was a lot of abuse and violence going on in my household and that ultimately landed my siblings and I in the foster care system. So I entered when I was 9 years old, no idea where I was, why I was there. Just kind of waited at a police station for hours and hours. Then I was separated from my family.”

When Miriam was young, she believed she was inherently bad because of her circumstances and the stigma surrounding children in the system. She tells me through research, Peace4Kids learned that Americans believe the media describes children in foster care as victims, survivors, criminals, murderers and drug addicts. She wants people to see children and alumni of the foster care system as unique individuals with their own experiences, needs, talents and abilities. 

“TO OVERCOME PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS, YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE MUST BE SUPER HUMAN.”

“Peace4Kids is a safe space for youth to honor the pain of their past and learn to embrace a future that builds on individual and collective strengths. A home for heroes.”

Peace4Kids is dedicated to creating a program that gives children and young adults the freedom of choice. Children enter foster care and have no advocacy over their home, their caregivers, their social worker, their lawyer, their healthcare providers and more. At Peace4Kids location in Watts, Los Angeles, children have a safe place “to come together, learn from each other and lift each other up.The whole intention is to make sure that young folks discover their voice, find a way to connect to community, and build value added relationships that will add to success.” 

Through their initiative, Heroes Circle, you can donate monthly to support a child transitioning out of foster care. Once you are a member of the Heroes Circle, you will “be invited to exclusive events, receive a limited edition 20 Year Anniversary t-shirt, be inspired by stories of resilience, strength and promise from our Peace4Kids family, and #SeeTheHero in our youth!” 

Below is a clip from my interview with Miriam. Please visit https://www.peace4kids.org/ for more information on their program. 

Orange County students learn soccer and social-emotional learning

The Pure Game is an after-school soccer program designed to mentor children through social-emotional learning and development of self-esteem.

I had the chance to speak to Cristina Velasquez, the Director of Development for The Pure Game. She tells me the program sparked her interest because she grew up with mentors herself.

She reflects on her time on the field with The Pure Game, “The coach interacted with the kids that weren’t touching the soccer ball, and he was telling the other kids, if you were your friend, what would you do to include them in the game? It was always about being inclusive and life lessons.”

Below is a 2:00 minute story I produced from my interview with Cristina.

The Pure Game is based in Orange County, California. They serve children from 2nd to 12th grade, and target children who may be at risk or underserved. I asked Cristina about this demographic, and she explained to me that “any child can be at risk, it doesn’t matter where they live.”

For children from high-income and low-income backgrounds, it’s possible they may not have a parent, guardian or caretaker after school because they may be at work. The Pure Game guides children through mentorship, sport and curriculum.

What separates The Pure Game from other soccer or sport programs, is their social-emotional and mental health lessons built into every game. Program leaders will teach new concepts like respect, responsibility, compassion, and more. They ask students to reflect on these lessons and provide examples of how they integrate compassion into the game, and in their personal and school lives.

Above all, they want children to have fun, try new things and develop healthy self-esteem and relationships. Coaches are not worried about competition or performance, but rather everyone gets a chance to play and learn something new.

The Pure Game provides surveys for the students to reflect on their experience, and after soccer camps they feel like they’ve gained social-emotional skills from their time at camp.

Remote Recess Zoom screenshot provided by The Pure Game

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted students across the world, but The Pure Game was determined to reach children during a time they needed activity, mentors and social-emotional learning the most. They created “Remote Recess” and have maintained an immersive program through distance learning.

I asked Cristina if their goals as an organization have changed since COVID-19, and she said, “I think what COVID taught us is now we have an extra tool of online: zoom and videos. Our program will continue to be the same and the goal would be to impact more students. Students are eager to be on the field and playing, honestly.”

They’ve worked hard to establish their online presence since school closures, below is a video montage they created to show what virtual programs look like.

Below is an example of an activity, Basket Toss Game from their Youtube channel. In this game, they teach reflection on responsibility and relationship skills. They pose the questions,

• “Are you bringing your friends down or are you helping each other be better?”

• “How can I improve my relationship with my friends and family members?”

• “Think of things that make you happy and try and do them.”

For more information on volunteer opportunities, donations and more, please visit their website Pure Game (thepuregame.org)

Inspiring girls to be strong, smart and bold.

Girls Inc. is a non-profit organization created to empower young girls across the nation. They work with girls, age 6-18 years, to break molds like gender stereotypes, and economic adversity. Their mentorship program looks at the wellness of the whole girl: physical, mental and emotional well-being.

The American Institutes for Research provides information on behavioral outcomes of the program, showing that "girls who participate in the Girls Inc. Experience demonstrated improved academic performance, school-related behaviors, physical activity, and leadership outcomes.“ – Dr. Deborah Moroney, Managing Director of the American Institutes for Research" (girlsinc.org).

How would you have benefitted from a program like this in your childhood? I wonder how many more girls would participate in sports, science, math and other extracurricular activities if they had a safe space and role model to guide them. That is ultimately Girls Inc. purpose. They support girls in developing self-esteem, so they are equipped to make healthy lifestyle choices as they grow up.

With the help of trained professionals, Girls Inc. has created a safe space for girls to ask big questions about their life, education, relationships, body-image, and sexuality. It is important that young people find solutions to these questions and problems with a trusted adult, rather than seeking information from social media or their peers. Mentors make all the difference for Girls Inc. youth.

They currently have over 1,500 sites in 350 cities. For those interested in supporting Girls Inc., they have a local office in Santa Ana, California, otherwise they can be contacted via girlsinc.org or their Instagram, @girlsinc.