Santa Maria Community Services, Inc. is pleased to announce it has been awarded $50,000 from The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Inc. for its youth development program.
Santa Maria Community Services’ Youth Development Program engages with families of Lower Price Hill youth ages 10-16 and provides youth the opportunity to partake in a life/social-emotional skills groups while learning how to develop peaceful conflict resolution, peer resistance, youth safety, bullying prevention, self-management, and goal-directed behavior skills. In addition to life skills development, the program focuses on youth mentoring and leadership through academic assistance and tutoring, age-specific activities, personal responsibility, and optimistic thinking skills. Participants have opportunities to engage in community service projects, and each child’s family is linked to resources that promote family stability while addressing concerns that threaten or hinder the family’s well-being.
“This generous grant from The Charles H. Dater Foundation will help Price Hill youth learn how to be more successful in school and in life by utilizing skills developed though our youth development program,” said H.A. Musser, President and CEO of Santa Maria Community Services. “Santa Maria’s youth development team enhances young people’s strengths and promotes positive outcomes by fostering positive relationships, building on their strengths, and nurturing their development.”
“Santa Maria’s programs for underserved young people are a perfect fit for the Dater Foundation, and we are proud to be a longtime supporter from the very first years of the foundation’s existence,” said Bruce Krone, Foundation president. The Foundation made its first grant to Santa Maria in its second year of existence in 1987 and has made 38 grants totaling more than $700,000 over the years.