The Challenge:
Reduce the amount of crisis intervention needed at the teenage level.
Social Advocates for Youth provides many services. Can you sum up what it is that SAY does?
Matt Martin: We provide hope, opportunity and support to Sonoma County youth and families. We’ve been growing strong Sonoma County youth and families for almost 40 years. Our services and programs span three Core Areas of Action: Community, Counseling, & Crisis. In so doing, we offer some of the community’s most unique opportunities for life change such as the Dr. James E Coffee House teen shelter, the Mary and Jose Tamayo House for young people coming out of foster care, and a Youth Employment Center helping youth overcome barriers to employment. In short, we’re in the business of hope. Hope is crucial to everything that we do.
What drew you to work with at-risk youth?
Matt Martin: I’m an elementary school teacher by trade, and the youngest of five in my family. While my parents worked hard, and always had dinner on the table, we pretty much lived hand-to-mouth. At age 10, I became an uncle. I cared for my nieces and nephews like young siblings. As I grew up, I began to realize the struggles my nieces and nephews had were the same problems my siblings were experiencing. Then, I began to see that my sisters’ and brother’s problems were the struggles my parents had experienced. They were generational cycles. We lived in a relatively tough Boston suburb where just about everyone accepted that they would always live there. As a child, I would see planes fly overhead, but thought I would never fly on one.
How did you end up in Sonoma County?
Matt Martin: I was in AmeriCorps in Providence, Rhode Island. I was helping build the city’s first children’s museum. During that time, I met a wonderful woman from Hopland, CaliforniMatt Martin: I fell madly in love with her and decided to follow her home. I left with my life savings of $800, put all my stuff in a duffel bag, and bought a one-way ticket. In 1998, I boarded an airplane for the very first time. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. We lived in Oakland where I taught school and got involved in nonprofits. Then we moved to Sonoma County where I worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Petaluma, and then came to work for SAY.
There are so many situations that can cause a family stress. Do you see any common reason why some families have trouble working their way through it?
Matt Martin: No one aspires to be homeless, a victim of violence or on drugs. The common thread in these families is that they’re not connecting. They’re not communicating well, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It’s human nature to want to connect with someone, and there are a lot of ways for kids to find that connection both positive and negative. It’s so important for kids to have a positive adult mentor whether they are a parent, coach, or teacher doesn’t matter. They need a place where they feel safe and accepted. For many, SAY is that caring community.
How many kids does SAY serve?
Matt Martin: With a budget of just over $3 million, we’re serving 6,000 kids in Sonoma County. Many people think that the homeless kids they see thumbing a ride on freeway on-ramps or on Santa Rosa Avenue are not from here. They’re surprised to find out that these are local kids. They’re easy to miss. Some may not even see them. Some may not want to see them. It can be uncomfortable and awkward. However, we can all make a difference in the lives of homeless youth. One of the best and easiest things we can all do is smile at them, see them by making eye contact with them. It says so much. They’re not criminals. They’re on the street for a reason. Many kids feel invisible, have low self esteem or are coping with trauma.
How can people help?
Matt Martin: Get involved in educating kids early. SAY is seeing an increase in the number of homeless youth, and the earlier we help kids the better. Early childhood programs help to reduce the amount of intervention needed at the teenage level, which we provide. Our intervention helps lessen the need to grow our criminal justice system to house adult criminals. This impacts our community socially and economically. Not only are we preparing young people to be positive, healthy contributors to Sonoma County, but we’re also saving our community money. For example, we’re able to reunite a young person with their family for approximately $1,600 over a year. However, if that same young person goes to Juvenile Hall for a year, it costs our community $145,000. It’s a simple choice: invest today or pay tomorrow.
SAY Programs
SAY offers a wide range of counseling, prevention, crisis intervention, and diversion programs at five locations in Sonoma County to at-risk and high-needs children, youth, and families (up through age 25). Many of our programs are offered in Spanish.
Our Dr. James E. Coffee House Teen Shelter is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week providing crisis intervention for runaway and homeless youth. Short-term counseling, including SAY Family Therapy is also available.
Young adults who have aged out of foster care or who are homeless can apply for housing at SAY’s Tamayo House Transitional Living Facility, also located in Santa Rosa.
Our Youth Employment Center helps youth find jobs and complete their G.E.D. requirements.
Our Medi-Cal Counseling Clinic provides individual and family counseling to children, youth, and young adults up to age 25 who receive Medi-Cal.
We also provide counseling, prevention, and diversion programs in the North County and Sonoma Valley. Most SAY services are free.
SAY By The Numbers
- 1,123 meals were served at the Street Outreach Drop-In Center at the Dr. James E. Coffee House Teen Shelter
- 93% of the youth who stayed at the Coffee House were safely reunited with their families
- 110 youth entered the local workforce through the Sonoma County Summer Youth Ecology Corps
- 80% of the youth who transitioned out of the Mary and Jose Tamayo House did so to enter stable housing
- 2,374 hours of individual counseling provided by SAY’s MediCal Counseling Clinic in the last 6 months
Read in print format. (PDF)
Community Champions is produced by the Marketing Department and the Celebrate Community Partners and does not involve The Press Democrat reporting staff.
Community Champion: MATT MARTIN
The Challenge:
Reduce the amount of crisis intervention needed at the teenage level.
Social Advocates for Youth provides many services. Can you sum up what it is that SAY does?
Matt Martin: We provide hope, opportunity and support to Sonoma County youth and families. We’ve been growing strong Sonoma County youth and families for almost 40 years. Our services and programs span three Core Areas of Action: Community, Counseling, & Crisis. In so doing, we offer some of the community’s most unique opportunities for life change such as the Dr. James E Coffee House teen shelter, the Mary and Jose Tamayo House for young people coming out of foster care, and a Youth Employment Center helping youth overcome barriers to employment. In short, we’re in the business of hope. Hope is crucial to everything that we do.
What drew you to work with at-risk youth?
Matt Martin: I’m an elementary school teacher by trade, and the youngest of five in my family. While my parents worked hard, and always had dinner on the table, we pretty much lived hand-to-mouth. At age 10, I became an uncle. I cared for my nieces and nephews like young siblings. As I grew up, I began to realize the struggles my nieces and nephews had were the same problems my siblings were experiencing. Then, I began to see that my sisters’ and brother’s problems were the struggles my parents had experienced. They were generational cycles. We lived in a relatively tough Boston suburb where just about everyone accepted that they would always live there. As a child, I would see planes fly overhead, but thought I would never fly on one.
How did you end up in Sonoma County?
Matt Martin: I was in AmeriCorps in Providence, Rhode Island. I was helping build the city’s first children’s museum. During that time, I met a wonderful woman from Hopland, CaliforniMatt Martin: I fell madly in love with her and decided to follow her home. I left with my life savings of $800, put all my stuff in a duffel bag, and bought a one-way ticket. In 1998, I boarded an airplane for the very first time. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made. We lived in Oakland where I taught school and got involved in nonprofits. Then we moved to Sonoma County where I worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Petaluma, and then came to work for SAY.
There are so many situations that can cause a family stress. Do you see any common reason why some families have trouble working their way through it?
Matt Martin: No one aspires to be homeless, a victim of violence or on drugs. The common thread in these families is that they’re not connecting. They’re not communicating well, and there are a lot of reasons for that. It’s human nature to want to connect with someone, and there are a lot of ways for kids to find that connection both positive and negative. It’s so important for kids to have a positive adult mentor whether they are a parent, coach, or teacher doesn’t matter. They need a place where they feel safe and accepted. For many, SAY is that caring community.
How many kids does SAY serve?
Matt Martin: With a budget of just over $3 million, we’re serving 6,000 kids in Sonoma County. Many people think that the homeless kids they see thumbing a ride on freeway on-ramps or on Santa Rosa Avenue are not from here. They’re surprised to find out that these are local kids. They’re easy to miss. Some may not even see them. Some may not want to see them. It can be uncomfortable and awkward. However, we can all make a difference in the lives of homeless youth. One of the best and easiest things we can all do is smile at them, see them by making eye contact with them. It says so much. They’re not criminals. They’re on the street for a reason. Many kids feel invisible, have low self esteem or are coping with trauma.
How can people help?
Matt Martin: Get involved in educating kids early. SAY is seeing an increase in the number of homeless youth, and the earlier we help kids the better. Early childhood programs help to reduce the amount of intervention needed at the teenage level, which we provide. Our intervention helps lessen the need to grow our criminal justice system to house adult criminals. This impacts our community socially and economically. Not only are we preparing young people to be positive, healthy contributors to Sonoma County, but we’re also saving our community money. For example, we’re able to reunite a young person with their family for approximately $1,600 over a year. However, if that same young person goes to Juvenile Hall for a year, it costs our community $145,000. It’s a simple choice: invest today or pay tomorrow.
SAY Programs
SAY offers a wide range of counseling, prevention, crisis intervention, and diversion programs at five locations in Sonoma County to at-risk and high-needs children, youth, and families (up through age 25). Many of our programs are offered in Spanish.
Our Dr. James E. Coffee House Teen Shelter is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week providing crisis intervention for runaway and homeless youth. Short-term counseling, including SAY Family Therapy is also available.
Young adults who have aged out of foster care or who are homeless can apply for housing at SAY’s Tamayo House Transitional Living Facility, also located in Santa Rosa.
Our Youth Employment Center helps youth find jobs and complete their G.E.D. requirements.
Our Medi-Cal Counseling Clinic provides individual and family counseling to children, youth, and young adults up to age 25 who receive Medi-Cal.
We also provide counseling, prevention, and diversion programs in the North County and Sonoma Valley. Most SAY services are free.
SAY By The Numbers
Read in print format. (PDF)
Community Champions is produced by the Marketing Department and the Celebrate Community Partners and does not involve The Press Democrat reporting staff.