Jessica Flatt is awarded the Rotarian of the Month award by President Lynne Spencer. 

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - At the weekly Rotary luncheon on Feb. 27, high school students Ryan Taranto, Matthew Miskin, Reagan Witt and Alina Jackson gave updates on various school activities. 

Next, Rotarian Jessica Flatt was awarded a special Rotarian-of-the-Month pin for her contributions to the club. Rotary President Lynne Spencer made the presentation. 

Rotarian and Community Outreach Director for Children’s Hope Foster Family Agency, Efren Del Rio, was the guest speaker. Children’s Hope is a private, nonprofit agency that has three offices: Gridley, Roseville and Yuba City. Ben and Heather Payne started Children’s Hope nearly 25 years ago. The mission is to provide hope and nurturing guidance to the Resource Parents (formerly known as Foster Parents), foster children and transitional aged youth through compassionate, professional services. 

Currently, more than 200 children and young adults are supported by the agency within a two-hour radius of the three offices. More than 6,000 children and young adults have been served during the last 25 years from Butte, Sutter, Yuba, Placer, Yolo, Sacramento, El Dorado and Solano counties. 

When children become adults, they can be eligible for the Transitional Housing Program (THP), if they have a full-time job, are a full-time student or have a full-time internship. The program’s goal is to help them learn accountability and budgeting skills. They officially age out of the foster system at age 25.

As part of the Transitional Housing Program, Children’s Hope is working with other agencies to convert an old Motel 6 in Sacramento into transitional housing for 28 young adults scheduled to open in August. 

“That’s a critical program that we have and put a lot of effort into is the THP program,” Del Rio said. 

Children with special needs are placed in the Intensive Services foster care program, where they are assigned a social worker and a behavioral specialist. 

Community Outreach Director for Children’s Hope’s Efren Del Rio spoke to the Rotary Club on Feb. 27.

A recent grant allows Children’s Hope to provide mental health therapy and counseling through the Enhanced Care Management program. This is available to all children over five years old, both in and outside of the foster care system. If they receive Medi-Cal benefits, they are eligible to receive one-on-one counseling at any of the three offices.

Children’s Hope is unique as a foster care agency in that transportation services are provided. Six mini vans are available in Gridley, two in Yuba City and two in Roseville to shuttle children to various appointments as a service to the Resource Parents.

Children’s Hope also offers visitation outsourcing through the Yuba City office. When Sutter County has excessive parent/child visitations to monitor, Children’s Hope can help with the overflow.

Del Rio indicated that donations to Children’s Hope go to several different programs, including Leaps and Bounds (funding activities such as gymnastics or cheerleading) and the Gridley Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Other items purchased with donations are car seats and braces. Transitional Housing Program participants often need laundry supplies, towels and dish soap. And new laptops were purchased for the team members to replace old, outdated ones.

The biggest need that Children’s Hope has, according to Del Rio, is Resource Parents for teenagers ages 13 to 17. 

The annual Children’s Hope summer barbecue at Gauche Aquatic Park in Yuba City will be on June 27 for Resource Parents, children and Children’s Hope teammates.