DMSB ROTARY BOCCE TOURNAMENT TO BENEFIT JUST IN TIME FOR FOSTER YOUTH

Posted

on May 28, 2015

Del Mar-Solana Beach Rotary works to help youth overcome obstacles that often prevent them from becoming self-sufficient adults and positive role models. This is why it chose Just In Time for Foster Youth as a major beneficiary of its Rotary Bocce Tournament to be held on October 4^th at the Del Mar Horsepark.

Just In Time for Foster Youth staff and volunteers, taking a break from playing and helping out at DMSB Rotary's 2014 Bocce Tournament

(L to R: Don Wells-JIT Executive Director, Michelle Joel, Karen DeLaurier, Sandra Ramirez, Nathan Combes, Jamie Inarda, Gary Hall)

Just In Time for Foster Youth (JIT) helps youth who have aged out of the foster care system at age 18 to transition toward self-sufficiency as independent adults. This is critical because: 40-50% of former foster youth become homeless within 18 months; 60% are destitute, earning incomes at or below $6,000 per year; 25% of foster youth will be in prison within two years of emancipation; and only 1-3% graduate from college. [The Cities, Counties and Schools (CCS) Partnership]

By any measure, JIT’s impact and outcomes are impressive for a home-grown organization only 12 years old, serving over 720 youths in 2014 with over 8,800 connections. But, this doesn’t tell the real story of hundreds of emancipated foster youth who have been helped by JIT to achieve stable housing, financial stability, advanced education, meaningful jobs, lasting relationships, and a sense of well-being. (See http://jitfosteryouth.org.)

To learn more about Rotary’s Bocce Tournament on October 4^th and help Rotary help JIT and similar non-profits even more, see www.DMSBbocce.com.