Give the gift of hope this
holiday season by supporting
local foster youth
Child Advocates of Sili-
con Valley, an independent
nonprofit formed in 1986,
is dedicated to serving
foster children from birth
to 21 years old that have
been placed in the Santa
Clara County foster care
system for having experi-
enced abuse, neglect, and/or
abandonment. Child Advo-
cates provides them with
the nurturing support and
resources needed to thrive.
About 1,000 children are
in the Santa Clara foster
care system at any given
time. Child Advocates
strives to ensure every one
of these children has a Court
Appointed Special Advocate
(CASA) Volunteer. These
volunteers are community
members appointed by a
judge to be a mentor, advo-
cate, and voice for a child/
youth in foster care. Zianna
and Joelle exemplify the kind
of support a foster youth can
receive from a CASA.
Earlier this year, Zianna,
a teen foster youth, and her
CASA Volunteer, Joelle,
began navigating the college
application process. They
applied for scholarships
and financial aid. With
Joelle's support, Zianna is
now attending UC Davis, is
enrolled in several programs
to support her transition
into college, and has received
scholarships and funding to
cover housing, tuition, and
books.
Child Advocates also works
to build enduring community
partnerships to broaden and
strengthen its impact. In 2020,
Child Advocates launched part-
nerships with eight local organi-
zations, including the Children's
Discovery Museum and the
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo,
which have agreed to offer free
resources, programming, and/
or free admission for foster chil-
dren and the volunteers.
Child Advocates depends
on individual, corporate,
community, foundation, and
government partners to make
their work possible, and there
are many ways to help year-
round. Donations also help
recruit, train and support new
volunteers.
Consider contributing online
at childadvocatessv.org/donate/
or contact development@
childadvocatessv.org to learn
about opportunities to become
a sponsor at one of the three
Child Advocate signature
fundraising events.
The annual Holiday Toy
Drive is also collecting gifts
through December 5. Make
a donation or purchase a gift
from their Amazon Charity
list at childadvocatessv.org/
holidaytoydrive/.
You can help LIFT UP
foster youth this holiday
season. Learn more at
childadvocatessv.org.
Sobrato Center of Nonprofits
509 Valley Way, Bldg. 2, Milpitas
childadvocatessv.org
Child Advocates of Silicon Valley:
LIFTING UP Foster Youth
P20 BAY AREA NEWS GROUP 111
Advertising Section
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2021
