Stories of Community Support

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Camp Choice Empowers Young Leaders

“World peace, one mind at a time” – With this vision, PSI World created Camp Choice, a five-day experiential learning camp for underprivileged children from the San Francisco Bay Area. Camp Choice empowers vulnerable youth to create positive change in themselves and their communities by realizing the power of choice, responsibility, and their effectiveness as positive leaders. During the camp, young people from different – and sometimes rival – neighborhoods learn to work together to accomplish team goals. In the process, they begin to form bonds that last even after they leave camp – bonds that can lead to lasting, positive friendships and support back home where it really counts. The personal growth and leadership development activities are specifically designed for goal setting in each participant’s life. Through ropes courses and other activities, youth get a chance to sharpen their focus, develop greater trust, and strengthen their commitment to go beyond what they believe they can accomplish and, in turn, create a lasting memory of success in their lives. Activities that pose physical and mental challenges are accompanied by creative outlets such as art projects, that help them portray the goals they have set for themselves, culminating in a camp talent show, where the participants perform skits, songs and dances they have created with their new friends and fellow campers.

Six weeks after Camp Choice, PSI World hosts a “backpack party” where youth receive a backpack filled with the basic supplies they need for a successful school year. The backpack party is an important opportunity to rekindle new friendships and reinforce the growth they experienced at camp. As Bianca, a Camp Choice graduate commented, “At the back pack party I get to see all my friends that I met at Camp Choice and it helps me remember what I learned.” Bread for the Journey of Marin County was pleased to give $300 in supplies for backpacks that will help these newly empowered young leaders succeed in school.

Anthropologists have discovered that rites of passage to help youth with the transition into adulthood have been an intrinsic part of traditional cultures. In this way, young people discover their gifts, a vision for their role in the community, and their own personal “medicine” or wisdom for dealing with the challenges that lay before them. Traditionally, their elders facilitated these discoveries, and supported the young adults to integrate their visions, roles and paths into the fabric of the community, supporting the transformation of the child mentality ("What's in it for me?") into the adult mentality ("How can I best serve the needs of my community?").

The San Francisco Bay Area is fortunate to have a local program – Stepping Stones Project – that brings the lost art of rites-of-passage back to our youth. Led by Lynn Cheatham and fifteen other extraordinary leaders, the success of Stepping Stones Project’s work with middle-school students has provided the foundation for them to now explore new programming and collaborations with other agencies, enabling them to better serve youth of various ages and backgrounds. Bread for the Journey of Marin County was honored to support them with a grant of $1,000. Visit www.steppingstonesproject.org

Prison Rehabilitation over Punishment in San Quentin

Working in partnership with San Quentin State Prison, Insight Prison Project (IPP) founded by Jacques Verduin, helps inmates learn new ways to respond to life’s pressures with a program of 18 classes reaching 300 prisoners each week – classes such as Violence Prevention, Anger Management, Positive Parenting and their Victim/Offender Healing Dialogues. As part of its overall rehabilitation mission, IPP's programs combine psychology with practical self-awareness techniques to help inmates shift from reacting blindly to cultivating skillful responses. Through this re-education, the experience of insight is then integrated into lasting behavioral change so that inmates can successfully reunite with their families and positively contribute to their communities.

One of the inmate graduates recently wrote, “I have learned to find freedom in myself, found ways to make choices, learned to be a parent and role model, learned tools to control my temper. I will be going to school to become a juvenile counselor to teach young adults that life in prison is no life. Thank you for all the changes.” Bread for the Journey of Marin County is honored to play a small role in IPP’s mission of rehabilitation over punishment by offering them a grant of $2,000 to help furnish their newly rented office with computer equipment and furniture.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

James Steven Farnsworth is a violinist with a vision to enhance the lives of people who are “shut –in” by offering live musical concerts. During the holidays, he created a program called The Twelve Days of Christmas in which he performed a violin concert of holiday songs for those in Nursing Homes. We attended his performance at Redwood Retirement Community in Mill Valley where one elder woman said, “This concert helped me to finally get into the spirit of Christmas. It has been a difficult year and I have not felt like celebrating until now.” Bread for the Journey of Marin County was happy to fund three concerts by giving James Steven a grant of $240.

Soccer for Everyone

Tighe O’Sullivan and Aleks Carendi’s lives have been shaped by the game of soccer. Its transformative power has not only positively impacted their lives, but also the lives of thousands of youth and adults they have coached or played with.

Having traveled worldwide for soccer, they know that this sport speaks a universal language, crossing age, gender, economic, race and religious barriers. This led them to create the United States Sand Soccer Championship (USSSC) which gives a diverse range of people the opportunity to play together and experience the benefits of “playing on an equal field.” In creating a championship they open up the opportunities for youth and adults throughout the western United States to share in the passion of the game.

Bread for the Journey of Marin County contributed $5,000 in scholarships and sponsorships for underprivileged youth to play at the USSSC championship.

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