“Y Scholars showed me that, you know, that we are strong in who we are in our skin. We are strong as students of color. But it also showed me that there is nothing that can stop us." – Emily Ramirez, 2022 Y Scholar Graduate
November 14, 2022
Dear [salutation],
Thriving youth starts with uncompromising support – like yours. We can't thank you enough for walking alongside us in this work for our youth, especially those furthest from opportunity.
Over the last few years, our youth have been stuck in survival mode. From missing formative milestones to learning opportunities, our youths' mental and emotional well-being has decreased, and they are trying to make it through to adulthood the best they can. This is where the Y community comes in – by helping create opportunities for youth and families to thrive, not just survive.
Young changemakers are at the heart of our collective future. When we invest in youth reaching their fullest potential, we are actively creating the communities we all want to live in. Our youth can thrive with your continued support, and a year-end gift [of $XX] will ensure their successful futures.
We can track youth success to something simple yet crucial: connection. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), youth during COVID-19 who “felt connected to adults and peers at school were significantly less likely than those who did not to report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness (35% vs. 53%).” Yet only 47% of youth reported feeling close to people at school during the pandemic. Putting this data into context, we have a generation of youth who missed out on their entire in-person middle school or kindergarten experience, losing the essential social interactions and formative moments that will develop healthy relationships. So how did the Y respond, and what were the results?
At the Y, we were able to create that much-needed, safe, and consistent place for our youth to maintain those same formative and in-person experiences they would have had at school. Y youth fared better, thanks to you.
From cradle to career, the Y community helped change the trajectory of people’s lives this year. The kids that missed out on kindergarten readiness were met at the Y with open arms and gained those crucial coping skills learned through social play with other children. This social play through our pilot Kindergarten Readiness program is a big deal. According to the Washington Inventory of Developing Skills assessment, only about 50% of kids in King County are ready for Kindergarten, and kids from South King County are even less prepared at only 25%. Studies have shown that kindergarten-ready kids are more likely to meet reading benchmarks in 3rd grade, which is a primary indicator of high school graduation. We saw a marked improvement in Y pilot groups in Kent and Des Moines with an average gain in all tested areas compared to pre-pilot results, respectively: 7% and 14% in social-emotional learning, 25% and 34% in literacy, and 28% and 23% in math. Our work together is creating a huge impact, especially for the youth furthest from opportunity.
Through community investment, we were able to create transformative experiences with humility and compassion for our youth and staff, like the experience a foster care youth had while attending Y Camp Colman. She repeatedly had been considered a “troublemaker” and dismissed as such. Our camp staff stepped aside so the Y camper could share her story and environmental and social triggers. Together, they worked on how they could support her emotional health at camp, and she made it through the entire session. The Y was the first place not to kick her out. The first place – and we have the Y community to thank for that – proving we do not give up on young people, especially those who need our support the most.
We watched young adults move from a state of resiliency into action through funded programs like Y Scholars, including recent graduate Emily Ramirez. Emily shared that she learned “how to advocate for myself and others in my community by going to MLK marches and expressing my emotions about all types of political issues. I learned to be brave at the Black Women in STEM debate event. I learned what true love and support mean by making such an amazing group of friends.” “Most of all, I learned never to give up.” Emily is now attending the University of Washington, studying and working to become a criminal prosecuting attorney.
This year has shown us what we can accomplish when our community lifts up our youth. And we know we can do more. Help us close our 2022 fundraising gap to meet the needs of our communities. All year-end gifts will go toward bringing forward our bold Vision 2025 plan to advance equity and justice for all through Whole Person Health and produce more equitable outcomes for all, especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color. < Salutation>, we hope our reflection of the year inspires you. We have seen our community’s impact this year, and we can’t wait to see what next year brings.