By Robert J. Hansen | OBSERVER Staff Writer
Two Sacramento State students were sharing their stories about being foster youth when the marching band began playing and United Way surprised them and eight other students with a $60,000 check at the United Way’s “United in Purpose Gala” at Memorial Auditorium on April 20.
Ten Sac State students, all in attendance and participants in Sacramento State’s Guardian Scholars Program for former foster youth, will receive $500 a month of guaranteed income for 12 months beginning in May through the United Way California Capital Region’s new collegiate guaranteed income program.
Jaliyah Dramera, 29, one of the former foster youth who was on stage, said she felt blessed and that a lot of foster youth don’t feel that from many people.
“I’m going to use these funds to pay for groceries because they’re expensive, and to fix my car because I need it to get to school,” Dramera said. “It will also help me pay for classes for next semester.”
Deja Douglas, 22, said the money will help alleviate the stress of paying rent and food, and driving an hour from Amador County to school while she studies psychology at Sac State.
“The money will help alleviate the pressure of being a working student,” Douglas told The OBSERVER.
Sacramento State President Dr. Luke Wood, once a foster youth himself, understands firsthand the immense challenges that cohort faces in pursuing higher education and said he graduated despite the system, not because of it.
“Too often, students who were in the foster care system lack the financial and emotional support structures that many of their peers take for granted,” Wood told the packed audience. “This groundbreaking partnership with United Way reflects our community’s deep commitment to empowering these resilient scholars and ensuring they have the resources to not just survive but thrive on their academic journeys. This program will alleviate some of the financial burden, allowing our students to focus wholeheartedly on their studies and personal growth.”
According to a CalYOUTH study from 2020, 1 in 4 former California foster youth surveyed experienced being unhoused between the ages of 21 and 23, with an additional 28% saying they couch surfed. The study also found that 28.2% of former foster youth attending college would qualify as being food insecure according to federal standards.
Dr. Dawnté Early, president and CEO of United Way California Capital Region, said selecting Sacramento State as the program pilot was a natural choice given the inspiring journey of Dr. Wood, from dealing with extreme life pressures as a foster youth to his recent appointment as the university’s ninth president.
“His story resonates deeply with the work United Way has been doing for decades,” Early said. “Earlier this year, Dr. Wood said his goal is for Sacramento State to have the largest enrollment of former foster youth in the country and be known for serving them. That commitment aligns with our longtime pledge to support foster youth in and out of the classroom. Together with Dr. Wood, United Way aims to create an environment where these students can focus more on their studies and less on basic needs like housing, food and transportation.”
Funding for the collegiate guaranteed income program will come from United Way’s action group, Women United.
Early said United Way has worked with foster youth through Women United for more than 20 years and historically provided mentorship for more than 200 women by teaching them life skills, from renting an apartment to buying their first car.
“Post-COVID, we have been trying to reinvigorate and re-energize our Women United group and when we heard of the work Dr. Wood was doing at Sac State with foster youth, we said, ‘There is the synergy,’” Early said.
Since its founding more than two decades ago, Women United has raised more than $2 million for foster youth programming.
September Hargrove, United Way California Capital Region board liaison for and a member of Women United, also was a foster youth. Hargrove said she knows the guaranteed income program will be a huge benefit to these students, who have faced adversity throughout their lives.
Hargrove said when thinking about how United Way could further support foster youth, the guaranteed income project came together quickly when planning for the gala.
“In a matter of months, we were able to leverage existing funding … get the commitment from Dr. Wood, as well as work with the programming to pull this all together,” Hargrove told The OBSERVER.
Hargrove said obtaining a degree isn’t easy and that doing so while under extreme life pressures, whether it be food, housing, transportation or family issues, makes that more difficult.
“For every former foster youth like Dr. Wood and myself who obtained their degrees, there are many more who drop out due to those life pressures causing economic insecurities. The hope is that this program will give these students a helping hand in dealing with those pressures,” Hargrove said.
United Way launched the first guaranteed income program of its kind in the Sacramento region in July 2021. In March 2023, in partnership with the City of Sacramento, a second round of funding for additional recipients was awarded.
Then in November in partnership with county supervisors Phil Serna and Patrick Kennedy and Sierra Health Foundation, guaranteed income was given to select residents of Sacramento County.
The gala also raised $344,000 to provide educational resources to local children in efforts to end family poverty. In the past year, United Way has mailed more than 18,000 books to children 5 and younger, provided academic intervention service to nearly 70 foster youth from the San Juan Unified School District and created a new KinderCamp in West Sacramento, adding 80 children to the school readiness program.