$22,218 raised by 149 donors
89% complete
$25,000 Goal
Aging UP empowers youth from foster care toward successful futures! Through mentoring, our trauma-informed and strength-based approach connects youth with healthy adult relationships—a proven buffer that builds resilience and provides a positive role model.
Our mission is carried out through:
We serve youth aged 13 to 22 in the Sacramento region who have current or former foster care experience.
In Sacramento, nearly 1,200 youth are currently in foster care. These youth did not enter the system by choice, and each year, approximately 10% of them “age out” of foster care. Unfortunately, many face dire futures as they transition into adulthood without the relational support or life skills necessary to thrive.
Yet, through our research-based mentoring services, Aging UP empowers youth from foster care to thrive into adulthood!
Hear what our Mentoring Matches are saying:
"Aging UP does a lot for me and has done a lot for me. They've always been here for me and helped me with many things.”
— mentee (in anonymous survey)
"She [mentor] always makes time."
— mentee in an anonymous survey
"I like that I don't feel like I'm in foster care around these people. It just feels like a group of friends.
— 20-year-old mentee (matched 5 years)
"I'm so thankful to have you as one of the people that has stuck with me. …I'm glad I have someone that wants to stay."
— 16-year-old mentee to mentor (matched 4 years)
To empower youth with experience in foster care to successfully transition into adulthood.
Financial SUPPORT:
$25 can cover a life skills stipend
$50 can fund a Match Welcome Kit
$75 can send a teen to a group event
$100 can provide adulting support for 1 month
$250 can provide emergency financial support for a youth
$432 can provide a year of meetUPs (recreation + connection)
$840 can provide a year of UPshops (essential life skills workshops)
$1,250 can train a new mentor!
In-Kind: Gift card donations help create memorable experiences for teens and will be given directly to them or used during an outing.
Purchase something from our Amazon Wish List for a youth or program services (https://a.co/3CTCqNg).
Aging UP is proud to be an inclusive community committed to empowering youth with experience in foster care. We recognize that youth in foster care face significant barriers and that Black, Brown and LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented in the foster care system. We also understand that trauma can negatively affect behavior and that, all too often, youth in foster care get labeled unfairly, while the source of why they may act out is often unaddressed.
As a trauma-informed, strength-based organization, we are proud to put our values into action. Thanks to support from our generous community, our staff, mentors, board members and volunteers receive training on trauma as well as diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). We also use a cultural focus when matching youth to mentors and offer resources and opportunities that enhance social equity.
Yet, we are committed to doing more. Our current steps include a newly launched youth leadership group, expanding mentor and board recruitment within communities of color, training more on sensitive race, gender and economic issues, increasing the ethnic and cultural experiences for our teens, and advancing the sociopolitical development of the youth we serve.
However, we cannot do this alone. You can help us better serve our diverse community of young people. Join us by donating, volunteering, or mentoring.
Together, we empower youth toward happy, healthy, self-sufficient futures. This has been and will continue to be our commitment as an organization.
Thank you for being part of our inclusive and caring community.
View our current participation opportunities.
In-Person Volunteering
Discover Mentoring
Greater Sacramento Region
Ongoing opportunity
Organization name
Aging UP youth mentoring program
2016
Tax id (EIN)
81-3023085
Mission Category
Youth Development
Operating Budget
$250,001-$500,000
Organization Need
Funding: Unrestricted, Funding: Program, In-Kind Donations
Demographics Served
Youth & Children, Low-income individuals/families, Black/African American
BIPOC Leadership
Executive Director/CEO
Local Counties Served
Sacramento
Equity Statement
Equity Statement
Address
PO Box 293504Sacramento, CA, US