4/16/2023 0 Comments Ever forward club oakland![]() In an interview last Wednesday at her office in downtown Oakland, Ramsey said she first worked on easing racial conflict by serving on the student relations council in high school. “This innovative public-private partnership is helping Oakland’s children become more successful in school and in life.” “Oakland Promise is creating brighter futures for children and families by supporting children at every stage in their lives, from the day they’re born to the day they graduate from college,” said Radford. Kaiser Permanente is also a founding sponsor of Oakland Promise, said Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente Northern California vice president of External and Community Affairs. “I’m majoring in public health because I want to make a difference in health care and solve some of the disparities in the field,” said La. La says the support has been a great confidence booster and she now pays it forward while counseling incoming freshmen. Chen says it has been great getting to know La and supporting her. “It’s been great to have someone to talk to and support me,” said La, who says the extra support really matters.ĭr. Chen makes herself available to La and one other student to talk about anything and help them identify opportunities in college and beyond. ![]() “My parents are first generation Taiwanese immigrants, so I have a heart for immigrant families and other groups that are often marginalized in society.”ĭr. “When I first moved to Oakland in 2020 to start my residency, the social justice movements spotlighting racial inequality in our society inspired me to help the community,” said Dr. Chen is one of the 34 mentors from Kaiser Permanente who help keep them in college, often forming long lasting friendships. La was one of the lucky few of 300 to 400 Oakland high school students who received college scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $16,000 each year from Oakland Promise, and Dr. Kaiser Permanente is partnered with Oakland Promise to cultivate mentor programs, scholarships and academic guidance. “The program is very well organized, and very accessible for busy working people,” said Dr. For more information, visit Kaiser Permanente gave a significant grant to Oakland Promise, helping it reach a $50 million goal for its Generation Fund, which will offer college savings accounts and scholarships to all low-income Oakland public school students while they’re pursuing college degrees or trade certificates. The Ever Forward Club’s 24-hour Relay, its annual fundraiser, will take place May 23-24. When more people say, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s an issue’, then we can start to come to some solutions.” “Now more people are saying they can see the problem too, in prisons, in schools with the drop-out rate. “Ten years ago, I knew that there was a great need for the social-emotional support of our young men,” Branch said. Branch and student members of The Ever Forward Club are featured in the documentary film “ The Mask You Live In,” which asks the question: As a society, how are we failing our young boys?īranch attended the Sundance Film Festival with the filmmakers and will be debuting the film on March 4 at Impact Hub Oakland. If you don’t have a vision of that, it will never change, though, you will act in a defeated attitude.”Īnd now, Branch is seeing others notice the importance of this work. “Our vision is helping young men come to a space and know who they are, and understand that what they’ve gone through in the past, they can get through it,” Branch said. Students also take an annual trip to Southern California to visit colleges. ![]() So he did what he could to fill the void, creating a club where young men gathered weekly in a circle with mentors to “do emotional healing work.”Įleven years later, The Ever Forward Club is going strong at multiple high schools and middle schools in the East Bay, including three Oakland schools where Branch works or has worked: Montera, ARISE and Fremont High (also his alma mater). But there was nothing for the kids most at-risk of dropping out and impacted by violence: young men of color. He was a high school math teacher, and he noticed that there were programs to support college-bound students and to help students struggling with academics. Ashanti Branch saw a great need and nothing being done.
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