Camp Fire USA builds caring, confident youth and future leaders in our communities. Our vision is to stop the generational cycle of illiteracy, poverty and violent crimes that plague many youth of disadvantaged families. It is our goal to build strong alliances with at-risk youth in order to facilitate their development of the personal and social competencies needed to effectively participate and achieve success.

Description:
Camp Fire USA Oakland East Bay Council is looking for volunteers to assist with its after-school programs, Kids With Dreams & Teens In Action! Located in West Oakland, our after-school programs serve 25-35 inner-city youth daily between the ages of 5-18. Our program includes time for homework assistance, tutoring, mentoring, snacks, life-enrichment activities, recreation, and more!

Our volunteers contribute in a number of ways:

As a tutor: Tutoring is a major focus of our program! Currently, 70% of Oakland youth are below reading level by the time they reach 4th grade. That means that most of the youth who come to our program to complete their homework are struggling with it. That's why we are looking for dedicated, responsible tutors to assist our youth with homework comprehension and completion. Our homework time is from 3:15-4:45 Monday through Thursday. We ask that volunteers can come into our program during this time just once a week. The more adults we have working with our youth, the better chance they will have to get to grade level.

As a mentor: Mentoring is a great way to get involved with our program if you want to spend time with youth but find it hard to fit into your schedule. The mentoring program is designed to establish a nurturing relationship between a youth in our program and a caring, consistent adult role model. We ask that mentors spend 15-20 minutes a week with a youth in our program engaging the youth in different activities, helping with homework, or just talking. Our program hours are from 3-6pm daily and our afternoons are filled with different activities. However, as a mentor, you can engage with your youth during any of these activities, so the time frame may be easier for you to work with.

As a program assistant: As mentioned above, our program runs from 3-6pm and we are more than happy to have volunteers stay the whole time. The afternoon consists of snack, homework assistance, life-encrichment activities, outside sports and games, and more. Most of our volunteers spend the afternoon with us because they tend to really have a lot of fun with the youth and develop a deep connection with them.

So whether you can offer one, two, or ten hours a week, we would love to have you join us! The youth love meeting new people and benefit greatly from the increased personal attention they receive from caring adults. It's also a great experience for volunteers looking to give back to the community, gain experience working with youth of all ages, increase social awareness and sensitivity, and make a positive difference in a young person's life.

If you aren't sure if you want to commit, we invite you to come check out the program, meet some of the youth, and then decide if it seems like a good fit for you!

History:
Camp Fire USA is a national organization that began in 1910. Here in the East Bay, the Oakland East Bay Council began the Kids With Dreams Youth Development Program back in 1991, and has been committed to serving the inner-city boys and girls of West Oakland ever since.

Contact people:

Laura Karosic, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email) Gary Harris, Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Address:

P.O. Box 23066 Oakland, CA 94623

Directions:

Our Kids With Dreams site is located at 1145 Tenth St. Oakland, 94607 in the middle of the Acorn Housing Community. Located in West Oakland, our site is between Market St. and Adeline St. (streets that run North-South), and 8th. . . (more)   Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: West Oakland BART Station,   Walk distance (in minutes): 10   Nearest Bus Stop: 19, 5 minute walk