Marsha Camp
The SaddleBrooke Women’s Golf Association – 18 selected the501(c)(3) non-profit charity Youth On Their Own (YOTO) as their charity for 2020. This organization is in need of your support. Please go to YOTO.org and donate as much as you can.
If you don’t know YOTO, let me tell you about 62,000 kids who need you.
Established in 1986, YOTO’s mission is to reach out to all children in Arizona who are surviving without the luxury of a parent, a home, or a loving family to see that they are clothed, fed, and in school. It saddens me to tell you Arizona is the fifth worst state for child homelessness.
One such victim is Adriana. This child was born into an abusive home. At thirteen, she finally fled her torture, but loneliness and depression nearly drove her to suicide. She found YOTO and got the support she needed to graduate from high school in 2018. Today she attends community college. Her goal is to matriculate to the university, become a doctor, and join Doctors Without Borders. She knows it won’t be easy, but she’s determined, energetic, and filled with all the optimism we wish for each and every one of our children.
So, how does YOTO provide the support youths like Adriana must have to achieve these goals? First and most important is guidance. Through mentoring, these children learn they are not alone. One-on-one support gives them the confidence they need to achieve their goals, the first of which is to finish high school. There is monetary support for housing and transportation, sometimes a bus pass or a bicycle to get to school. Some receive food boxes and nutrition advice along with a little encouragement to eat a healthy breakfast. Donations from retailers allow YOTO to distribute clothing to as many as possible.
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character, that is the goal of true education.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ann Chatham is the SBWGA-18 liaison to YOTO and can answer any questions, but first, go to the Youth On Their Own website to learn the stories of teen survivors.