Social Advocates for Youth San Diego, Inc.

SAY San Diego's main goal is that our culture supports positive, trustworthy and forward-thinking leaders in practice, policy and system improvement. On top of our agency goal, we have three separate goals for each area of impact.

Our three main areas of impact are Child and Youth Development, Youth, Adult and Family Wellness, and Community Engagement.

The goal for Child and Youth Development is to support learning and positive development, in all dimensions, for children from preschool through grade 8 in extended learning settings (including preschools, before and after school programs and vacation programs).

The goal for Youth, Adult and Family Wellness is to strengthen the ability of vulnerable youth, adults and families, in diverse communities, to build and lead safe, healthy and thriving lives.

Lastly, the goal for Community Engagement is to actively engage youth, adults, families and community members to effectively advocate for social and equitable change, through an array of diverse community-based centers and programs.

SAY's strategies include:
1. Convene cross-sector information sharing and presentations.
2. Develop and implement a comprehensive and innovative communications strategy through a range of methods and tools focused on promoting diversity, innovation and partnership, throughout the county:
• School-based
• Community events
• Staff participation in professional networks
• “Think tank" sessions
• Media outreach via board members and staff.
3. Pursue and navigate cross-sector partnership opportunities in specific sectors, including faith-based and business.
4. Expand volunteerism opportunities and roles; consider ways to engage more youth and young adults in SAY San Diego volunteer efforts.
5. Build internal resources, staff and infrastructure to support expanding volunteerism opportunities.
6. Create leadership training and professional development capacity and opportunities for staff to create a culture where we serve as recognized leaders, subject matter experts, and champions for the outcomes most needed in the community.
7. Train staff, youth adults and families to be excellent, compelling story-tellers regarding SAY's results, as well as program participants' life experiences and advocacy needs.

SAY San Diego advances a vision of opportunity, equity and well-being for all San Diegans and has been providing services throughout San Diego County since 1971. SAY San Diego implements contracts and programs with local, state and federal government, and also implements innovations with private foundations and funders. SAY San Diego effectively impacts 50,000 San Diegans annually through a holistic approach, across more than 30 programs.

SAY San Diego's team of over 400 employees, and over 600 volunteers is highly experienced in impacting positive outcomes for youth, adults, families, and communities in San Diego. SAY San Diego's core competencies are in:

• Youth and resident-led public health approaches to alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse prevention
• Before and after school programs, preschools and early childhood support
• Child abuse prevention, parenting support, and foster/kinship family support
• Collaborative partnerships with other organizations to coordinate resources for military families, refugee/immigrant families, students,
parents, and more
• Juvenile delinquency prevention, diversion, alternatives to detention and gang prevention
• Mental health counseling and intensive case management for youth and adults.
• Privately funded Bridge Fund to go beyond the restrictions of grants and contracts, to address social determinants of health such as urgent needs

Through our innovative and responsive approach to partnership and community building, we ensure that we capitalize on our organization's strengths, while collaborating with partners who have complementary capabilities, all with the goal of providing the most holistic and comprehensive services possible. SAY San Diego is a trusted lead agency and convener for multi-organization impact projects and convenes seven different community collaboratives, focused on providing tailored opportunities to San Diego's most under-served communities, including immigrants, refugees, military families, and low-income communities of color. SAY is also known for our expertise in evidence based practices with diverse, highly vulnerable populations, including foster/kinship families, and court involved families and individuals. Our rich history, excellent staff, and core competencies have positioned SAY San Diego as an important agency in promoting opportunity, equity, and well-being for all San Diegans, and have afforded us the ability to increase our capacity and have a greater impact. We currently operate several contracts with San Diego County and the San Diego Unified School District. SAY San Diego immediately invests funding into the community with consistently effective service delivery, fiscal fortitude, and staff expertise:

• Recognized Partner with Live Well San Diego
• Union Tribune Top Workplace Awardee
• Public Health Champion Awardee

2018-2019 was a year of significant growth and change for SAY San Diego! We leaned forward to innovate and build upon long-time efforts and to expand into new areas – all aimed at meeting unmet needs in our community. New efforts brought new partnerships, greater creativity and increasing impact, such as the following and much more:

In-depth exposure to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math learning (also known as STEAM) does not always reach children in under-resourced communities. This past year, SAY strengthened its STEAM curricula for all ages, built durable STEAM partnerships with San Diego schools’ extended learning programs, and won a prestigious national PwC grant and volunteer partnership to focus on STEAM where it is most needed. In recognition of SAY’s expanding efforts, we received the 2019 STEAM Hub Award from the San Diego County Office of Education!

For several years, in partnership with the County Probation Department, SAY has provided Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for justice involved adults to help them to find confident footing on a new path in life. As a result, in 2018, SAY was tapped by the County District Attorney’s Office to provide similar services for a new countywide adult-focused Community Justice Initiative, designed as an alternative to further court involvement.

Since 2014, SAY’s Bridge Fund has closed family financial gaps before they become insurmountable. This past year, in response to identified client needs, SAY increased this valuable program 5-fold with the support of private donors. This meant we could offer even more financial assistance to families struggling with poverty and potentially catastrophic unexpected challenges, including acute health issues, rent, utilities, food, childcare, baby items, educational needs, transportation, and other urgent needs.

Our annual report can be found here: https://annualreport.saysandiego.org/