SACRED ROK
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Young people have lost touch with nature, and yet they will be the earth's stewards in coming generations. They grow up tethered to electronics, and many, especially children of color, have never been to a national park. The National Park Service recognizes the need for increased diversity, including a history that has often neglected stories of people of color and the indigenous.
Merced is called “The Gateway to Yosemite" but its low-income youth have never been to Yosemite. Growing up in neighborhoods with guns, drugs and gangs, they risk getting into trouble and getting locked up. Merced has 5th highest rate of youth being killed of 58 California counties, all killed by guns, result of gang violence. Teens in Central Valley more likely “disconnected" – not in school and not working. Juvenile felony arrest rate 8.4 per 1,000 in Merced, 7.1 in San Joaquin, 6.4 in Tulare vs 5.3 per 1,000 statewide.
Cost of doing nothing: A year in juvenile hall costs taxpayers more than $90,000.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Day trips and camping trips
Our programmatic activities are day trips and overnight camping trips to Yosemite National Park. Each trip is led by Sacred Rok Executive Director Ron Kauk and/or, Katie Lambert, our extraordinary cook and Chief Operating Officer. We limit each trip to 4-6 youth in order to be able to focus on the healing experience of the ceremony of nature, the setting, and the building of trust and relationships. We take the youth on repeat trips to help them become more comfortable; and to build ongoing relationships over time.
Nature provides the curriculum and the structure – wind, weather, and water are our guides. A typical day trip in Yosemite Valley might include a stop at Fern Spring to fill water bottles and appreciate the ancient water flowing from the ground, a hike from Tunnel View up to Old Inspiration Point, service work or cultural lesson at the Wahhoga Village, lunch, a bouldering(rock climbing) session in Camp 4, or a walk to the base of El Capitan. Our camping trips are typically at Tuolumne Meadows Campground. At 8,800 feet elevation, Tuolumne Meadows is only open in the summer months and is less crowded than Yosemite Valley. A camping trip might include a hike along the Tuolumne River past Pothole Dome, a walk to Parsons Lodge and Soda Springs, a dip in Tenaya Lake, rock climbing or a hike up the back of Lembert Dome.
Outreach and Education
Presentations, videos, and books that support youth in nature and education nature's way
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of free participants on field trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Incarcerated people, At-risk youth, Indigenous peoples, Multiracial people
Related Program
Day trips and camping trips
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Includes incarcerated youth as well as at-risk youth from the community. Duplicated counts. Fiscal year numbers.
Total number of fields trips
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, At-risk youth, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Day trips and camping trips
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of youth service participants who have involvement in juvenile justice system
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Multiracial people, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Day trips and camping trips
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Youth incarcerated at Juvenile Hall in Merced and San Benito counties. Fiscal year numbers. Duplicated counts.
Number of youth who have a positive adult role model
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, At-risk youth, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Day trips and camping trips
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Building relationships is a key outcome; small groups take repeated trips with Ron Kauk and/or Katie Lambert, they also visit Juvenile Hall; agency staff are also mentors. Fiscal year numbers.
Number of youth who volunteer/participate in community service
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, At-risk youth, Incarcerated people
Related Program
Day trips and camping trips
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Juvenile Hall youth who do trail repair in Yosemite Valley; all youth who help cleanup at Tenaya Lake and in Yosemite Valley
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Sacred Rok Board of Directors has adopted the following goals:
1. Programming and activities - Day trips and camping trips in collaboration with other youth-serving agencies, building relationships with young people and partner agencies.
2. Telling the story of Sacred Rok – this includes our book Letters from Sacred Rok, the newsletters, the website, the Facebook page, videos, and educational presentations.
3. Building organizational capacity including continuing to support grant writing, website maintenance, and bookkeeping.
4. Long term goals - sustainability funding and finding land to provide a place where our Sacred Rok youth can return at any time for a safe haven, a refuge for these young adults to experience the healing ceremony of nature.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
It has been eight years since we started Sacred Rok. We are continuing to build relationships through the art of communication, appreciation and respect. Simply being and being in the moment - these experiences show the way back to the basics. When we say “relationships" at Sacred Rok we mean with all life – air, water, and land. This is the Law for the Real World. When we say “communion with our senses" we mean tuning in and remembering how to feel as well as think. Our experiences continue to help us better understand the word education and commit to the reality of Education Nature's Way. We tell our story and share what we have learned.
Our core strategy is to work with youth serving agencies to provide a healing experience at Yosemite for young people who have not had this opportunity, either a day trip or camping trip. We provide healthy, organic, locally grown food on these trips and help them to know the importance of good food and clean water. Foster youth and incarcerated youth may not have left their own neighborhood to witness the beauty and pace of the natural world, nor have young people at the Boys & Girls Club.
We also work with American Indian youth and elders. Yosemite has a powerful resonance to the American Indian community. The Miwok, Paiute, Mono, and Chukchansi tribes have lived in the Sierras for centuries. The Miwok People were evicted from their homes in Yosemite Valley as late as the 1960s, when the last homes were burned, and many young people in these tribes no longer have the connection to their history and culture in the park, nor the opportunity to connect with its granite rocks, rushing waters, and healing power.
One of Sacred Rok's goals is to tell the story to help people understand the importance of nature, to share how we can learn to get back to the basics of being human, talking, walking, and breathing. Our 2013 book, "Letters from Sacred Rok," and our 2015 book, "Voices From The Inside Out," powerfully tell our story. "Voices From The Inside Out" was co-written with the Merced County Probation Department, sharing the voices of the young people who are incarcerated. Their story was also shared in the "Search for Freedom" documentary. We are also did a video with the American Indian elders and youth allowing them to share their experiences and feelings with their own culture and how it plays out in Yosemite. Ron also makes presentations at Patagonia locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as to foster parents and foster youth, in addition to showing his movie, Return to Balance: A Climber's Journey, at the Yosemite Visitor Center on weekends in the summer.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our programmatic activities are day trips and overnight camping trips to Yosemite National Park. Each trip is led by Sacred Rok Executive Director Ron Kauk, and camping trips are supported by Katie Lambert, our extraordinary cook and camp manager. We limit each trip to 4-6 young people in order to be able to focus on the healing experience of the ceremony of nature, the setting, and the building of trust and relationships. We take the youth on repeat trips to help them become more comfortable; and to build ongoing relationships over time. Ron is a calm, intuitive, and charismatic leader who respects and has gained the respect of the youth participants. Katie Lambert is a compassionate and nurturing cook who is trusted and beloved by the young people on the trips.
Nature provides the curriculum and the structure – wind, weather, and water are our guides. A typical day trip in Yosemite Valley might include a stop at Fern Spring to fill water bottles and appreciate the ancient water flowing from the ground, a hike from Tunnel View up to Old Inspiration Point, or a walk to the base of El Capitan. Our camping trips are typically at Tuolumne Meadows Campground. At 8,800 feet elevation, Tuolumne Meadows is only open in the summer months and is less crowded than Yosemite Valley. A camping trip might include a hike along the Tuolumne River past Pothole Dome, a walk to Parsons Lodge and Soda Springs, a dip in Tenaya Lake, or a hike up the back of Lempert Dome.
We have a shoe string organization. We do not charge fees to the youth; we are supported by donations and grants, and if possible ask the partner agency to provide funds to help defray the costs. The agency provides transportation to Yosemite, where Ron meets them and leads the trips.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We seek positive outcomes - changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior - for youth participants.
Short-term outcomes include increased self-confidence in nature and caring for the environment. Young people learn to sit at peace under a tree or by a river. They are calmer and better able to manage anger and control their impulses. We surveyed Boys & Girls Club participants regarding whether the trip made them less stressful or anxious; 75% said "Yes" and 25% "Maybe." Another survey question asked if the trip would help them to be more patient and to think before they act; 86% said "Yes" and 14% "Maybe." Before the trip one Boys & Girls Club teen would at times speak rudely to staff to a point where they had to contact his parents. After the trip, his relationship with staff improved, based on their bonding experience in Yosemite. He got involved with the club activities such as basketball tournaments. Another teen always wanted to be the center of attention - after the trip, she toned herself down, becoming more helpful in the kitchen when serving snacks, calmer, and more respectful.
Longer term outcomes include respect for nature and themselves, being respected and valued by adults, positive peer and adult relationships, and hopes and goals for the future that lead to more engagement in school or work. Participants have developed strong positive relationships with trip leader Ron Kauk as well as with the staff who accompany them on the trips. The Sacred Rok trips have had an astonishing impact on the Boys & Girls Club youth. “These trips enlighten our youth and provide new experiences. One teen who will be a sophomore in high school always seem to glow after each Yosemite trip, and she is just so humble when she's present at the club. The younger participants enjoy their close relationship with the staff member who went on the trips. They seek him out for enjoyment and entertainment, and enjoy sing-alongs during the bus rides. The older youth participants have also become more open, and less likely to get into trouble." We surveyed Boys & Girls Club participants to see if they thought being in nature would help them in home and in school, and 85% said yes. 100% said the trip gave them a better understanding of nature and the natural world. 86% said the trip made them more confident about being in nature. The mentor reported that: “When they get a chance to visit this beautiful place they return with a positive outlook. They demonstrate a more positive attitude, are respectful and responsible, and earn great grades; one also received recognition as “youth of the month." One teen had been struggling with her science class, to a point where she was failing. The trips served as an outlet, where she could de-stress herself, be sincere, feel harmonious, and to be self-reflective. Since she started the trips, she began improving, increasing her grade by two letters. She cherishes these trips up to Yosemite."
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
SACRED ROK
Board of directorsas of 11/16/2023
M. Steve Shackelton
Mr. Brian Cooley
Treasurer/Secretary
Term: 2019 -
Brian Cooley
Merced County Probation Department
Lamar Henderson
Merced County Human Services Agency
Steve Shackelton
University of California, Merced
Lucy Snyder
Ron Kauk
Sacred Rok
Brandi Lennertz
Sacred Rok
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
No data
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
No data
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/08/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.