Santa Maria Community Services, Inc. announced it has been awarded $50,000 from The Charles H. Dater Foundation, Inc. for its youth development program.
The program engages with families of Lower Price Hill youth, ages 10-16, and provides kids the opportunity to partake in a life/social-emotional skills groups while learning how to develop peaceful conflict resolution, peer resistance, youth safety, bullying prevention, self-management, and goal-directed behavior skills. In addition to life skills development, the program focuses on youth mentoring and leadership through academic assistance and tutoring, age-specific activities, personal responsibility, and optimistic thinking skills. Participants have opportunities to engage in community service projects, and each child’s family is linked to resources that promote family stability while addressing concerns that threaten or hinder the family’s well-being.
Santa Maria CEO H.A. Musser Dater Foundation President Bruce Krone
“This generous grant from The Charles H. Dater Foundation will help Price Hill youth learn how to be more successful in school and in life by utilizing skills developed though our youth development program,” said H.A. Musser, Santa Maria president and CEO. “Santa Maria’s youth development team enhances young people’s strengths and promotes positive outcomes by fostering positive relationships, building on their strengths, and nurturing their development.”
“Santa Maria’s programs for underserved young people are a perfect fit for the Dater Foundation, and we are proud to be a longtime supporter from the very first years of the foundation’s existence,” said Bruce Krone, foundation president.
The Dater Foundation made its first grant to Santa Maria in its second year of existence in 1987 and has made 38 grants totaling more than $700,000 over the years.