Suzanne & Nathan are opening doors

When Nathan is at AcademySTAY, he's usually on his knees in the garden or halfway through a repair project. He's spent countless weekends there — pulling weeds, hanging shelves, pressure-washing walkways, keeping the campus beautiful for the students who call it home. He's not a board member or a major donor. He's a volunteer who believes this place matters.

I'm on the staff side. I'm AcademySTAY's Marketing & Development Manager, which means I see the numbers and the stories every day. I see what stable housing does for a young adult who's never had it. I see what happens when the foster care system stops supporting someone at 18 and no one steps in.

Nathan is stepping toward retirement in the coming years, and he's already decided how he wants to spend some of that time: here. Doing more for this community. That's the kind of commitment that's rare and worth recognizing.

So the two of us are doing something together this Big Day of Giving. We're asking 20 people to join us.

Why AcademySTAY

Every year, roughly 200 young people turn 18 inside the foster care system across our six-county Sacramento region — Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, Sutter, and Yuba. On that birthday, most of them step into a world with no family safety net, no co-signer on a lease, and no backup plan.

The numbers are stark: nearly 50% face homelessness within 18 months. In Sacramento County alone, one in four unhoused people spent time in foster care as children. These aren't separate problems — they're one problem the system hasn't solved.

But the numbers miss something important. These young adults aren't waiting to be rescued. They apply to programs, show up for work, enroll in school, and keep trying. One 18-year-old applicant recently wrote: "I've never had a stable home living situation and I've always wanted that."

AcademySTAY is where that wanting meets real support. We provide safe housing and one-on-one support while students pursue college degrees, vocational training, and careers. Our cost to run the program is less than $50 per day per student — funded entirely by donors. Compared to the alternatives Sacramento is paying for when foster youth fall through, that's a staggering return on investment.

What Our 20 Donors Will Make Possible

Here's the math we like:

20 donors × $50 = 20 safe nights of housing opened.

Not abstract. Not aggregated across a statewide campaign. Twenty specific nights that a specific young adult sleeps in a locked apartment with a kitchen table to study at. Twenty nights they don't have to figure out where they'll sleep.

And here's what makes Big Day of Giving different this year: The Board Leadership Match is doubling every dollar. Your $50 gift becomes $100. Our 20 donors fund 40 safe nights, not 20.

Two Ways to Join Us

Give directly: Click the donate button on this page. Any amount helps. $50 opens one safe night. $350 opens a week of stability. $1,500 opens a month of housing and support.

Share this page: If you know someone who cares about foster youth, housing, or education equity — forward this link. Getting to 20 donors means all of us telling a few more people.

From Both of Us

Nathan will be at the AcademySTAY open house on May 7, probably somewhere near the garden, ready to shake your hand if you stop by. I'll be there too, coffee in hand, watching a campaign I've been planning for months actually happen.

Help us open a door.

— Suzanne & Nathan