Compassion Planet

Reviewed by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation

Our Remarkable Story: Compassion Planet began with a dream to provide hope & positive futures for under-served youth in the Greater Sacramento area.

Newly married, Scott and Jacquie Flanagan became aware of the challenges aged-out foster youth face while serving youth in Silicon Valley. Discovering that one of their youth, Marvin, was going to be homeless two weeks after his 18th birthday, they stepped into action. Their search did not produce results, so they invited him to live in their one-bedroom apartment. For the next five months, they helped Marvin become independent by helping him find a job and transportation while mentoring him in basic life skills and how to be a reliable employee. After clearing his three-month probation at his first job, they helped Marvin find a place to rent and manage a household budget. This experience planted the seeds for the work that would be started 22 years later. Compassion Planet began in 2012 due to the shared dream of Flanagans and Todd and Luann Johnson.

Today this dream is impacting the lives of underserved youth in Placer and Sacramento Counties. Together, with sustainable non-profit businesses along with the generous support of our community, Compassion Planet brings four groups of youth, called trainees, into their Mentoring Program four times a year. Comprised of aged-out foster youth and youth from at-risk backgrounds (ages 18-24) these groups are empowered by up to 1,900 hours of on-the-job training (includes employment), psycho-educational therapy, and life skills training before graduating into CP's lifelong Aftercare Program. Their stories and journeys are incredible and Compassion Planet is privileged to be a part of their family!


Learn more about our amazing program and all it's elements in the "Our Programs" tab. Below is a quick overview of our after-care program.

The After-Care Program

A lifelong program for graduates that includes services and staying connected to a community. Our goal is to help ensure lifelong growth and success. Compassion Planet’s After Care Program includes:

Care Check-ins

We provide lifelong care through trimester check-ins, designed to create ongoing support throughout the year. Our goal is to make sure youth stay connected, never spend a holiday alone, and let them know we are still available no matter what.

Trainee Emergency Advancement Fund

Our Emergency Advancement Fund is available to support our graduates when emergencies arise. This may include meeting financial needs, providing educational tools, and/or personal coaching through the challenging season.

Alumni Events

Graduates of Compassion Planet are invited to come back and take part in 3-4 alumni events throughout the year which may include a movie night at a local theater, a professional sporting event, a holiday party, a picnic, or a barbecue.

Housing Opportunities

Graduates and participating youth at Compassion Planet have opportunities to acquire affordable rent until they find a career that can afford market rates. Although limited opportunities currently exist, our goal is to expand this service to help our youth build their credit and rental history.

Mission

We empower aged-out foster youth and youth from at-risk backgrounds to achieve independence, by overcoming personal obstacles, becoming employable, and reaching their fullest potential.

Needs

We are positioned to impact 55-70 lives through our Mentoring Program in 2024. Compassion Planet invests just over $21,000 for each young person (aka - trainee) to complete our Mentoring Program.

Our signature program offers 1,000 to 3,200 hours of services (up to 20 months) designed to help facilitate positive growth, healthy mentoring relationships, personal coaching, and pathways to a lifetime of independence. Adult Mentors (staff and volunteers) are trained on how to work in trauma-informed environments. They also complete monthly training in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI).

In summary, our Workforce Development provides on-the-job training through paid internships in controlled environments at ten locations including seven social enterprises owned and managed by Compassion Planet.

In these environments trained mentors work together to empower youth with employment skills, workplace dependability skills, and a strong work ethic to ensure sustainable employment. A multi-range of on-the-job training skills may include customer service, computer coding, inventory controls, sales & marketing, merchandising, digital marketing, warehouse & shipping, event planning, light construction, food service, maintenance, gardening, and more.

Participating youth in the Mentoring Program also receive weekly one-to-one mental health coaching sessions with our clinical social workers. Coaching helps youth work through trauma, anxiety, addictive traits, and childhood pain while offering tools and pathways to find wholeness. We also provide Mental Health services and Educational Therapy on coping skills, conflict management skills, healthy relational skills and boundaries, emotional intelligence, and personalized topics to find wholeness.

Along with Workforce Development training and Mental Health services, trainees receive basic life skills training, soft skills training, career coaching, exposure to the trades through hands-on workshops, and the acquisition of career-related certifications (e.g. Servsafe, OSHA 10, etc.).

Upon graduating from the Mentoring Program, trainees enter our Aftercare program. This lifelong program includes services and helps ensure they stay connected to a community. Our goal is to help ensure lifelong growth and success. Compassion Planet’s Aftercare Program includes. Trimester check-ins, alumni events, housing opportunities, and access to emergency funds and coaching to support graduates if challenges arise.

Our goal is to raise $10,000 through Big Day of Giving 2024. Funds raised this year will be split four ways and will help underwrite:

1. Our Thumbs to Hands program ($3,000) which will introduce trainees to the trades and connect them to volunteer mentors who have made a living in the trades. These experiences will take place at Compassion Ranch.

2. Our Project Adam program ($3,000) helps youth with driver's training, acquiring their California Driver's License, and assisting them with purchasing their first car.

3. Our Trainee Advancement Fund ($3,000) helps graduates when facing personal challenges and provides resources for living expenses, encouragement, and personal coaching

4. Our Assessments and Certifications ($1,000) provides individual assessments to establish baselines during onboarding and provides fees to complete certifications in Servsafe, CPR, and OSHA 10 training.

Equity Statement

Compassion Planet is committed to building a culture that embraces inclusion, diversity, and individual uniqueness. Our relational-based programs foster a place where everyone feels welcome and a sense of belonging. We strive to cultivate growth through mutual respect, unconditional love, empathy, team building, and encouragement, regardless of one's background or beliefs. We also strive to see everyone in our organization find opportunities to grow, advance and share in each other's successes.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Compassion Planet

Year Established

2013

Tax id (EIN)

45-3646224

Mission Category

Youth Development

Operating Budget

$1,000,001-$5 million

Organization Need

Funding: Program, Funding: Unrestricted, Volunteers, Other

Demographics Served

Youth & Children, Low-income individuals/families, LGBTQIA+

Local Counties Served

Placer, Sacramento

Equity Statement

Equity Statement

Address

5465 Pacific Street
Rocklin, CA 95677

Service areas

Rocklin, CA, US

Roseville, CA, US

Lincoln, CA, US

Placer, CA, US

Sacramento, CA, US

Phone

916-672-6599

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