Peace4Kids is a thriving activity-based program, serving foster and at-risk youth in the South Los Angeles neighborhoods. Peace4Kids is the only program of its kind geared towards foster children in these neighborhoods. Peace4Kids is a creative intervention to improve the outlook for foster youth as they age through the system and grow into adulthood. Peace4Kids serves 150 unduplicated participants in South Los Angeles. To date, Peace4Kids has served over 700 youth between the ages of 5-18 with a diverse range of services and programs. Our current programs now provide activities which cover life skills, athletics, nutrition, arts, creative writing, and mentoring. Our new Teen Program addresses a significant gap that exists in serving the needs of teenagers making the difficult transition from foster care into adulthood. Peace4Kids co-locates program space with the Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club, and each Peace4Kids participant receives a membership to the Club. Each weekend, Peace4Kids provides free creative education classes designed to reach over 100 participants in three age groups from ages 5-18. In January 2004, Peace4Kids launched its pilot Teen Program. The Peace4Kids Teen Program offers specialized life skills classes on a weekly basis for youth ages 14-18, covering topics including career and employment development, money management, housing education and information, and health education. While we engage participants at least one day per week, Peace4Kids staff works throughout the week with foster families and parents, social workers, and other links in our participants' social service network. The impact of Peace4Kids has been plainly visible to foster families, social workers, teachers, and our staff, Board and volunteers. We see foster and at-risk youth opening up, becoming more self-expressive, and making better choices in conflict resolution. And in doing so, we know that we are actively breaking a cycle of violence in their lives. By helping children discover their gifts, they can find their place in society. Finding one's gifts gives hope. Hope about their inner selves and their value to society leads to connectedness with the community, at home and at large, and creates a sense of empowerment or providence over one's future and a realization of one's responsibility for the role one chooses to play in society. The true strength of this program is our volunteers, who tend to be social service workers experienced with foster children, or adults who want to make an impact in the lives of foster youth. If you are interested in learning more about our volunteer opportunities, please email info@peace4kids.org

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