New NonProfit Site Makes It Easy For You to Make an Impact and Provide Opportunities for AtRisk Youth

Opportunity Impact, a non-profit organization providing support for at-risk youth living in public housing in the Western Addition area of San Francisco launches its innovative "Pick Your Project" donation web site at http://www.opportunityimpact.org.

Opportunity Impact opened its doors on Fillmore Street, just down the street from Yoshis Bay Area Jazz Club, in March 2008. The participants in this youth outreach program are kids who are at high risk for violence, and who have little or no access to other support services. Students are enrolled in the program starting in grade 5 and continue through until grade 8. The goal is to provide students with the educational assistance, life skills and other resources that will help them to continue their education, deal with challenges in life and realize a better future. The Opportunity Impact program currently services 20 youth, and an additional 15 children will be enrolling this summer. All participants will be continuing in the program in the fall.

Emily LoSavio is the Director and Founder of Opportunity Impact. She has worked with youth for much of the past decade, but was tired of youth community services that could not provide children with the support they really need. According to statistics, 13% of youth under age 18 in San Francisco are living in poverty, and more than 10% of families with children in San Francisco earn less than $13,874 for a family of four.

"My vision is that one day kids growing up in public housing will have access to the same opportunities as kids in our most affluent communities," says Ms. LoSavio. "We work together with other local agencies because this kind of collaboration brings the community to life."

The Web site allows students in the program, their parents and supporters of Opportunity Impact to stay involved. It offers a unique online Donation (http://www.opportunityimpact.org/index.phpoption=com_content&view=article&id=88&Itemid=101) section that lets supporters pick the project to which they want to donate. The donation cash page lists specific items the group needs - from books to a "Kid Mobile" van for safe transportation to helping keep the lights on. On the services page, professionals and students can contribute their time and services. The "stuff" page includes items the group needs every day such as nutritious snacks, kitchen supplies, and pens and paper for doing homework.

"Opportunity Impact is excited to create a Web site that provides donors with a personalized giving experience. We hope our Web site will allow donors to see, understand and personally connect to exactly who and what their donation will impact," Ms. LoSavio says. "We believe that cross-community caring is an important aspect of the non-profit culture. Our hope is that the kids we work with in public housing and the donors who offer their support to these youth, will feel more connected to one another through the giving process."

For more information or to make a donation - and a difference - visit www.OpportunityImpact.com.

About Opportunity Impact

Opportunity Impact (http://opportunityimpact.org), formerly 4ward Focus, is part of Collective Impact (http://collectiveimpact.org), a 501c3 tax exempt organization. The purpose of Collective Impact is to make an impact on people and the planet. Collective Impact includes two additional programs: Cultivating Impact (http://cultivatingimpact.org), providing people with knowledge about food and healthy eating, plus access to organic food that is locally grown and Terra Impact (http://terraimpact.org), providing people and companies with the education and tools needed to help them reduce their consumption of world resources.

New NonProfit Site Makes It Easy For You to Make an Impact and Provide Opportunities for AtRisk Youth

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New NonProfit Site Makes It Easy For You to Make an Impact and Provide Opportunities for AtRisk Youth

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