SOAR: Support, Opportunities, and Rapport For Foster Youth in Bay Area

About SOAR for Youth

In community partnership with UC Berkeley, SOAR for Youth helps foster youth move through adolescence and into their adult lives with independence. SOAR teaches, coaches, and counsels our young people in academics, life skills, and emotional intelligence. The SOAR program aims to help our young people graduate from high school, attend college, and succeed in life with a purpose.

We are proud of the accomplishments that our young people have achieved since our incorporation in 2009. With sustained attention and support from SOAR over 5-8 years, 95% of the seniors we have served graduated from high school on time and 92% of the graduates have gone on to college. Our youths stay in contact with one another after completing our program, return to work as Junior Counselors and Counselors, and receive individualized academic support through their first year of higher education.

In 2018 we launched a summer internship program to provide real-world work experience for SOAR youths who are qualified. Their success and the enthusiastic support of their employers enabled us to improve the program in 2019.

The SOAR program is provided at no cost to the participating foster youths and their foster parents/legal guardians. We do expect the foster parents/legal guardians (or CASA) to provide the necessary transportation.

2020 Summer Academy – Prepare to SOAR for 1^st Year Youth

Prepare to SOAR academy launches our four-year summer residential program of academic growth, enhanced self-esteem, cultural and higher education awareness …and, of course, plenty of fun activities for our young people.

An exciting program awaits qualified youths. Applicants must be social welfare foster youths, in grades 6-8, reside in the Bay Area, have demonstrated academic capability (GPA = C average and above), be adaptable to a group setting, and have an adult recommendation.

We expect SOAR youths to participate 100% at all times; therefore, we recommend that you give more consideration to those youths who are willing to commit to our four-plus-year program.  This continuity is the key to the success of our graduates. In 2020, this one-week pre-collegiate academy will take place from Sunday, July 26 to Saturday, August 1 on the University of California, Berkeley campus. We plan to admit 14-16 students.

The application packet for the Prepare to SOAR academy can be downloaded from our website. The application deadline is Friday, April 24, 2020 (post-marked)!

(URL: http://www.soarforyouth.org/program_prepare.php)

We plan to notify you of the selection results by the end of May. Once this year’s participants have been selected, as a part of the admission process we will need your assistance in obtaining the necessary court releases and photo authorizations.

Please get the applications in early; feel free to contact us at info@soarforyouth.org if you have questions. We look forward to working with you to accomplish another exceptional summer academy.