Host: Matt Watson
Topic: Bridge to Home, Big Idea Event of BFF, & iLEAD Exploration
Guests: Imari Peterson, Mandy O’Connor, Cathy Craig, Heidi Da Silva
Eye On The Valley – Bridge to Home, Big Idea Event of BFF, & iLEAD Exploration – February 3, 2023
On today’s episode of Eye on the Valley, Matt Watson welcomes Imari Peterson and Mandy O’Connor from Bridge to Home. Imari is a licensed clinical social worker for Bridge to Home. She also has a master’s degree in psychology and social work. Mandy has worked with nonprofits for over 10 years and recently started here for over 2 years. They are to inform people about the program and the services and how they are able to enroll. They can help people with figuring out how to help the homeless. If they are full, meaning when no beds are available, they will try to connect them with other shelters that will have some availability. They discuss the possible causes of homelessness and the increase in it as well. For example, in SCV, it was a 30% increase in homelessness when comparing the recent study to the previous one. Listen to the whole show to find out more about the special event they will be having in person, the Soup for Soul event on Sunday, February 26.
Later on, Matt welcomes Cathy Craig, the executive director of the Baker Family Foundation (BFF). They discuss how this organization operates and works with other organizations. The goal of the organization is to strive to make a positive impact on the community. It is open for youth and students ages 16-22 where they’ll need to write 350 – 500 words to describe their idea and proposal along with a recommendation letter submitted to the Big Idea website. Then Cathy continues on how the process will progress forward and how these students are able to share their pitch. They also share the cash prizes for the 1st-3rd placeholders, but also give small funds and resources to the ones that make it to the finalists’ rounds. It’s free to apply, so it is an incredible opportunity for these students to share their Big Ideas.
Subsequently, Matt brings in Heidi Da Silva, the office manager of iLEAD Exploration with the latest in the program and how it can be beneficial for some people. Heidi starts out with how she started in her career and how she landed here. Then she describes how each student gets their options, opportunities, and flexibility in the program and chooses their own curated pathway that is specific to each student’s needs. Heidi shares many of the extracurricular opportunities that they still offer through their program such as prom. She also shares how the process is for students transferring from their schools to the iLEAD Exploration program when they get in.
Lastly, Big T has his five minutes of fame as he hosts trivia for “Frogger”, Heidi, and Andrew!
Continue listening to the entire show here to learn more about Bridge to Home, Baker Family Foundation’s Big Idea event, and iLEAD Exploration!
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