Braid Volunteer Resources

College Resources

College and Career Bound: A Planning Guide for 9th-11th Grade Students in Foster Car e - This is designed to equip 9th-11th grade students with experience in foster care to achieve their college and career goals. Even if your youth was not in care after age 13, this guide is full of useful information for thinking about the college and preparing to apply.

College and Career Bound: A Planning Guide for 12th Grade Students in Foster Care - This guide is designed to equip 12th grade students with experience in foster care to achieve their college and career goals. Even if your youth was not in care after age 13, this guide is full of useful information for college applications.

Ashly Chavez Presentation

Ashly Chavez, a recent college graduate and first-generation college student, worked with Braid during the summer of 2022 to identify resources to help our volunteers be informed and supportive as they help our youth think about college. Below are resources from her workshop, including videos from her presentation.

Presentation Videos (password: guidance)
Presentation Slides
What Matters To You - Worksheet
Activities & Resources - Thinking About College

Below are a set of resources to inspire conversations about financial aid and locating programs locally and regionally for foster youth.

2023 Implementation Fact Sheet: Increased Financial Aid for Foster Youth - The 2023-24 California state budget includes increased funding for financial aid for foster youth across all three public postsecondary systems. The fact sheet and FAQs provide an explanation of the changes made to the Middle Class Scholarship and Student Success Completion Grant financial aid programs for foster youth.
FAFSA & Scholarships for Adopted & Foster Care Children - This site has detailed information about Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and how to find scholarships, grants, and tuition wavier programs in every state.
Free Classes at City College San Francisco - Free tuition for SF residents, year-round.
Guardian Scholars at City College San Francisco - This local program engages current and former foster youth in attaining college degrees, stable housing and career-path employment.
Guardian Scholars at San Francisco State University - This local program engages current and former foster youth in attaining college degrees, stable housing and career-path employment.
Cal State University San Marcos ACE Scholars - This program empowers students impacted by foster care to transform their lives through higher education.
California Student Aid Commission - This site is one-stop shopping for information about financial aid programs for students attending public and private universities, colleges, and vocational schools in California.
Family Fellowship Scholarship - Offers generous support for tuition, housing, career guidance, and emotional support for current and former foster youth who are pursuing higher education. Applications due May 3, 2024.

Activities & Resources for Outings

This list of resources is designed to inspire and support successful Bay Area outings for your teams and youth. The list includes a crowdsourced spreadsheet of ideas, and a handy Google Form you can use to add to this list. The required Braid Driver Form is here too, for anyone using their car for transporting youth.

Educational Resources

Learn to Be - Free one-on-one online tutoring for youth in underserved communities, including youth in foster care, single-caregiver homes, those on public assistance or in special education.
List of Resources for Youth in Planning Guide - This handout provides an overview of key resources to support students along their educational journey in middle school, high school and postsecondary education.
Apply to SFUSD Schools
A Simple Guide to San Francisco High School Lottery Process - This PDF was prepared for Braid by students at the University of San Francisco to provide an overview of the process.
Learn to Be Tutoring - Provides free one-on-one, online tutoring to underserved youth.
UPchieve Tutoring - Provides free online tutoring and college counseling.
Middle School Checklist - This handout provides a checklist of key steps to help middle school students succeed academically, engage in college and career exploration activities and successfully prepare for their transition to high school.
More Education & Support Resources from John Burton Advocates for Youth

Free Online STEM Courses for Youth

Free online courses are offered and are available to Braid youth through Juni Learning, an online platform where kids 7-18 years old can learn real-world skills and solve real-world problems.

Juni’s courses focus on critical STEAM topics, like coding, investing, math, and more.
Juni is offering free on-demand memberships to interested Braid youth, which gives them full access to the online courses and support.
The courses involve short video presentations followed by a project, so they could be a great way for volunteers to engage with youth virtually.
If you think your youth might be interested, please let us know, and we will get them signed up (with caregivers’ permission). They just need an email address.
Learn more about the course offerings: Juni Learning

Ride Share Reimbursement Policy

Braid is able to help with costs when teams need to use a rideshare service like Uber or Lyft to comply with the requirement that two adults are present with a young person at all times.

Because of budget constraints, we can only reimburse rides that involve transporting a young person (not your personal transportation to/from outings).
If you have an eligible expense, please email your receipt to rachel@braidmission.org along with the name of the young person who was being transported.
If it is your first time requesting reimbursement, please also send your Venmo or PayPal handle.

Mental Health Resources

Let’s Talk About It: A Graphic Guide To Mental Health is a lively and educational 24-page comic book created for middle and high school students that destigmatizes the conversation around mental health. Created by mental health experts, educators and cartoonists, this comic provides knowledge and resources for students to help them be healthier and more resilient. The PDF version is available on our Google Drive.