WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 2023
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. PT
Session 5 of 5 in the "Aging Out or Growing Together?" Series (view series page for full details)
This five-part learning series is an open forum and discussion group for agencies and individuals that serve transition-aged youth and young adults. We will examine how our collective organizational values, implementation strategies, program design, and goals might expand to support the evolving, holistic needs of this age group.
Join us for a panel discussion session on July 26th as we close this series that's brought together a diverse mix of youth-serving organizations to learn from each other's work and uplift the complex and comprehensive needs of transition aged youth.
We will explore the creative ways youth-serving organizations are adjusting to best support them. Beyond exploring barriers to meaningful engagement and service provision, this generative space will also unpack culturally and developmentally appropriate models that support young adults in attaining wellness and self-actualization through guided conversation and promising-practice spotlights.
Audience: All community-based organizations and institutions that support the mental health and wellness of transition-aged youth.
Series Sequence: from 10:00-11:30 a.m. PT on the last Wednesday of every other month
We welcome you to join in listening, learning and dialogue for this session, starting with a presentation panel of representatives with three youth serving organizations and hear from all voices in the space.
Rudy Corpuz, Jr. is the Founder and Executive Director of United Playaz, a longstanding violence-prevention organization that has served the children and families of San Francisco and the South of Market since the early 90s. A native of the SOMA, Rudy came up in the 70s and 80s surrounded by the difficult realities of the neighborhood: drugs, gangs, and crime.
Inspired to effect positive change and spread love in the neighborhood and City that raised him, Rudy overcame the challenges of his SOMA childhood to develop a program of child-centric community work that is still going strong. In his quarter century of service, Rudy has established himself and his dedicated United Playaz team as indispensable stewards of the SOMA community, providing safe and reliable year-round spaces for kids to learn and grow, while simultaneously working with former prisoners to build job skills as they come back into the community.
John Torres has been a leader in the violence prevention field in the Bay Area for over 25 years and has a rich background in case management, crisis response and trauma support. Currently, he serves as the Associate Director for Oakland-based Youth ALIVE! This agency’s mission is to break the cycle of violence and uplift a thriving community of leaders rooted in Oakland and beyond through prevention, intervention, healing and advocacy. As Associate Director, John oversees and supports the Intervention and Healing Departments that include the following programs: Caught in the Crossfire, Pathways, Relocation, Violence Interrupters, Counseling and the Khadafy Washington Project. He is also currently a certified trainer with the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention (HAVI) where he provides training and guidance for other hospital violence intervention programs (HVIP).
Before joining Youth ALIVE! in 2009, John worked in San Francisco where he led the City’s Community Response Network (CRN) Initiative through the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). Additionally, John worked at various community based organizations in the Mission District such as the Real Alternatives Program (RAP), Community Bridges Beacon and Arriba Juntos. John received a B.A. from San Francisco State University in Psychology and a Masters in Counseling from the California Institute of Integral Studies. In May 2022, John became a fully Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and continues to provide therapy to Youth ALIVE! clients.
Oriana Ides, MA, APCC, PPS
Oriana Ides is a School Mental Health Training Specialist at CARS (the Center for Applied Research Solutions) and approaches healing the wounds of trauma and oppression as core elements of social justice. She has worked with young people across the life course from elementary school to college, and has served as teacher-leader, school counselor, classroom educator and program director. She is committed to generating equity within school structures and policies by focusing on evidence-based mental health techniques and institutional design.
Visit the main page for more information on this series.