Stand With CalSAC and Support Frontline Workers

OST (out-of-school time) programs up and down California have provided critical support to youth and families struggling in the wake of the global pandemic. It would be hard to overstate the impact of these challenges on the social and emotional well-being of more than 3 million California students and their families. Fortunately, the same dedicated workers who count on CalSAC for resources to provide exceptional before school, afterschool, and summer learning programs have stepped up to ensure that California youth aren’t facing these unprecedented times alone.

MEET INDIO TEEN CENTER

The Indio Teen Center had a "6ft apart challenge" on social media, which asked participants to demonstrate creative ways of being 6 feet apart.

The Indio Teen Center is a program of the City of Indio, but pre-COVID-19 the center was serving 120 to 160 students a day from Indio and many surrounding cities. Students in grades eight through twelve came to the Teen Center for support with homework and learning, life skills training, and social programming. 

When COVID-19 forced the Teen Center to close, the staff immediately began to re-tool their services to ensure that their youth weren’t left to feel alone and unsupported. The center’s experienced team members started by consulting program participants about what services they most needed. That feedback helped them pivot not only to plan services, but also how to reach the students who need services. For instance, the center now announces programs and takes sign-ups via Instagram. 

Today the Teen Center provides a crucial virtual platform for teens to stay socially connected, share their feelings, and escape the pressures of home.  They also deliver program supplies to participants’ homes, because without them the teens couldn’t participate. Some days Teen Center staffers deliver all the ingredients needed to make the Culinary Arts Program’s recipe of the day so students learn to cook nutritious dishes that they can share with their families. 

Every day, the Teen Center hosts a virtual Recipe of the Day and Arts and Crafts demonstration for its students.

With Indio middle schoolers receiving 10-20 minutes a day of virtual classroom instruction, the Teen Center is a vital lifeline that helps youth continue to learn and to know that they are not alone. Their innovation and agility to react to the changing environment has helped them continue to serve the youth who need them most. The Indio Teen Center is just one of many examples of the ways that up and down the state, programs like the Indio Teen Center are supporting families in this time of great need. Never before has the OST community been a more important link to wellness for students and their families. 

Each year, CalSAC equips thousands of these professionals with leadership skills that are paving the way for their success today and builds networks for them to support, learn from, and inspire one another in these times. Now more than ever, CalSAC is proud to stand with and support frontline OST workers. 

Please stand with us by making a year-end donation today.