Building Block Foundation Fund combines multiple resources, both financial and human, from the real estate community into a powerful support vehicle for effective programs targeting at-risk youth. Programs have helped to successfully mentor teens as well as move otherwise unskilled young adults into economically self-sustaining, skilled jobs and productive lives guided by fundamental values.

To date, Building Block Foundation Fund has raised nearly $1 million for beneficiaries including KIDWORKS, Orangewood’s Guardian Scholars, Project Access, Taller San Jose and Newport Sports Museum.

The advisory board is always in search of new programs and deserving groups in need of funds. To find out how your organization can become a beneficiary of Building Block Foundation Fund, please contact us at bbff.info@gmail.com.

 Orangewood's Guardian Scholars

Education is a key to opportunity.  Sadly for youth in the foster care system, they face overwhelming obstacles just in achieving a high school education, much less attaining a college degree, making them the most educationally at-risk population.  Youth in foster care need school as a point of stability.  The good news is that we are making progress in helping current and former foster youth graduate from high school and transition to higher education. Orangewood's Guardian Scholars Program provides personal guidance and access to supportive resources, helping foster youth students achieve their college degree or trade school education and transition to independent adulthood.

 The Guardian Scholars Program helps foster youth achieve their dreams of an education and reach their full potential. This is achieved through a team effort of Orangewood Children's Foundation, the Guardian Scholars institution, public agencies and committed private citizens.

 The college assigns a knowledgeable, compassionate staff member to our students and the personalized attention assists with all the issues they face while navigating their education, life on their own, as well as career planning and long-term goals.  This incredible support system provides the safety net that most students receive from their families.  The program boasts that Guardian Scholars Program students attending four-year schools have a 70% retention rate.  This retention rate meets or exceeds the rate for their student peers who have not experienced the disadvantages of the child welfare system.  Last year, Orangewood Children's Foundation provided scholarships to 160 Orange County foster youth students in the Guardian Scholars Program and 33 students graduated in 2008!

KIDWORKS

Since 1994, KIDWORKS has developed and operated community centers in Santa Ana neighborhoods that provide family support services and engage neighborhood residents in community development activities. KIDWORKS learning centers provide after-school tutoring, homework help, computer training, one-to-one mentoring, leadership, development for youth and parents, and a safe refuge from dangers of the street. Young people in these neighborhoods are at-risk due to neglect, abuse, drugs, violence, gangs, lack of positive influences, escalating drop- out rates and teen pregnancy. KIDWORKS influences at-risk youth through positive relationships with role models who provide guidance and tools for emotional healing as well as educational success.

Newport Sports Museum

Newport Sports Museum is a non-profit 501(c)(3) sports memorabilia and educational center dedicated to mentoring children and preserving the history of sport. Its collection is used as a vehicle to mentor at-risk children about the virtues of athletics and academics and the dangers of drugs and gangs. With a goal of motivating children, the Newport Sports Museum offers several youth outreach programs, which include Athlete Outreach, Sport Yourself, Career Choices and All-Stars Mentoring.

Project Access

Project Access' mission is to assist low-income residents of affordable housing developments to increase their self-sufficiency through onsite access to education, health, and social services. Project Access helps children, families and seniors face critical challenges by bringing together affordable housing providers and community service agencies to create onsite resource centers that offer convenient access to education, information and training. By providing programs free of charge in residents' "backyards," Project Access helps people of all ages overcome challenges posed by language and culture, or by a lack of information, transportation or financial resources. Project Access currently serves residents in 14 Southern California affordable housing communities, which benefit more than 2,500 low-income families and seniors annually.

Taller San Jose

Taller San Jose (St. Joseph's Workshop) is a place where undereducated, unskilled and unemployed young adults who have taken the wrong path can find hope. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange opened Taller San Jose in 1995 in response to the high rate of crime and gang violence prevalent in the City of Santa Ana, California. Since then, Taller has helped over 3,000 high-risk youth, ages 18 to 28, restructure their lives, finish high school and develop marketable skills. Through a focused training curriculum in three key sectors where the demand for skilled workers is high-residential construction, medical careers and computer technology-Taller San Jose offers employers access to a new pool of drug-free, work-ready candidates with training, skills, and support that improve their reliability and retention on the job.