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"I wish we weren't needed any more," said Kim Goldman, executive director for the nonprofit organization. "The need is there and the wait list is long."
Since 2007, the organization has contracted with the Hart district by organizing support groups and education campaigns - something guidance counselors and administrators can't do on their own.
The project was once funded at $95,000 a year by the William S. Hart Union High School District, serving both junior high and high school students.
But in December, it received $50,000.
"If we had the money, they'd be at the top of my list for services needed on school campuses," said Hart board member Joe Messina, who served on the project's board since its inception 10 years ago.
During the 2008-09 school year, the SCV Youth Project provided more than 3,500 counseling sessions to 680 teens, Goldman said. The organization ran nearly 30 support groups throughout the year.
Figures show that more than 3,000 students were helped by the group's outreach campaigns and more than 20,000 students received "Fry Cards," which list contact information for local support organizations.
Funding a need
The nonprofit organization's current budget is about $250,000, a drop from previous years as the organization trims expenses. The Youth Project, which relies on donations and its charity events, hopes to stay afloat, Goldman said.
Over the years it has served some 27,000 students.
Messina worries about how much funding the district can provide the project as it figures out how to fill a multimillion-dollar budget gap.
"I think they're going to be hard-pressed to get money from the district," he said. "I think you're going to see an increase of issues on campuses with some of the kids that won't have any place to go."
The Youth Project provides social, academic and personal support for students who might otherwise fall through the cracks, other school board members agreed.
"Our counseling staff, while it's grown over the last three years, is heavily burdened with the standard workload," board member Steve Sturgeon said.
The independent organization is a way for students to talk about issues that they might not want to discuss with their parents or teachers, board President Paul Strickland said.
"They do provide a special need that we're just not able to," Strickland said. "I know that anybody who has a child that's been involved with the Youth Project will state that fact."
Connecting with teens
The organization is involved in 12 of the Hart district's junior high and high schools, offering peer mentoring and group sessions for students.
"The SCV Youth counselors are able to provide a little bit more support in terms of one-on-one counseling time, therapy and then the group therapy," said Arroyo Seco Junior High School Principal Rhondi Durand.
Counselors and mentors are young adults who are able to connect to students.
"This is where they discover that they're not alone," Durand said. "It's just great for them to know that it's a natural, normal thing and there's a lot of help out there in the community."
Durand recognizes the increasing challenges teenagers face, especially when it comes to drug and alcohol abuse.
"It's a tough age and a tough world," she said. "It's not the same world as when I was in junior high back in the ‘60s."
