The West Plainfield 4H Club and Discovery Christian Church in Davis recently worked with nonprofit Make It Happen for Yolo County to conduct service projects to help transition age youth in need, generally defined as ages 18-24 and predominantly foster youth, furnish their homes and become successful first-time renters. Discovery Christian Church sent a volunteer group of 10 in late May to deep clean and reorganize the four Make It Happen furniture storage units in Davis. Two weeks later, four members of West Plainfield 4H Club purchased and assembled furniture as a life skills project to donate to transition age youth.
“We can’t thank the West Plainfield 4H Club and Discovery Christian Church enough for their generosity of time and resources to help the amazing youth we serve,” said Jan Judson, board president, Make It Happen for Yolo County. “Partnerships like these not only are vital to the work we do, they also show our clients that there is a community that cares about them and their success in life.”
The West Plainfield 4H Club life skills component is designed to help teens explore and learn skills for when they become independent. For the project, the club members, who range in age from 10th-12th grades and live in Woodland and Davis, secured funding, shopped according to a budget and assembled the furniture.
“Because 4H also focuses on giving back to the community, many projects like this one have a service element,” said Laura Warner, co-leader, West Plainfield 4H Club. “The fact that the activity served their peer group made it all the more meaningful.”
Volunteers with Discovery Christian Church helped prepare the storage units for the furniture donation from 4H by cleaning them from top to bottom and reorganizing the furniture and household goods already being stored in the units.
Make It Happen for Yolo County is a volunteer-run nonprofit providing transition age youth in Yolo County with the furnishings, household goods and resources needed to move into their first apartments. The group receives furniture donations from the community and purchases new appliances and household items to help youth involved with the Yolo County child welfare, mental health and probation divisions, as well as the UC Davis Guardian Scholars program. Since its founding in 2014, Make It Happen for Yolo County has helped more than 100 Yolo County transition age youth. To make a financial or furniture donation, visit mihyolo.org.