Above Elected Officials, Unity Care Board Member, Former Foster Youth and Unity Care President participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony.

From left to right: San Jose Councilmember Donald Rocha, San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra, Board Member Cedric Martin, President and CEO André Chapman, San Jose Councilmember Xavier Campos, Former Foster Youth Jezus Cicero, Assemblymember Jim T. Beall Jr., Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, and Assemblymember Paul Fong.

After 5 years in the making, Unity Care, in collaboration with the City of San Jose Housing Department, San Jose Conservation Corps' Youth Build, elected officials, donors and community partners, celebrated the Grand Opening of Unity Place II on Thursday, September 15, 2011.  View photos from the event.

Over 100 supporters attended the event and were inspired by Jezus Cicero, a former foster youth who now has a 3 year-old daughter.  He shared his personal struggles growing up in the foster care system and imparted the need for affordable supportive housing for families like his.

The 8-unit (2 bedroom/1 bathroom) green affordable housing apartment complex, located in South San Jose, will provide much needed housing and supportive services for parenting former foster youth.  The renovated complex also features green technology that in turn will ensure sustainability and will help lower tenant utility bills.

Special thanks to Sleep Train Mattress Centers for donating 7 full-sized and 6 twin-sized bed sets.  Cake4Kids volunteers generously assembled 8 kitchen welcome boxes and Robin Hood Ministry donated numerous furnishings for the units. 

Unity Care is seeking in-kind donations of household items to furnish each unit.  Individuals and organizations interested in making a donation may contact Donna Knowlton, Development Specialist/Community Resources at (408) 510-3480 ext. 101.

You can also read Sal Pizarro's write-up of the event featured in the Mercury News' "Around Town" column.

Cake4Kids volunteer Kelly Biggi gives a former foster youth instructions on how to make cornbread from scratch.

Cake4Kids volunteers are going above and beyond to support our foster youth and families.  In addition to baking beautiful and personalized birthday cakes for each foster youth in our care, they are also volunteering their time to teach our former foster youth how to cook.

On August 19, 2011, Cake4Kids founder Libby Gruender, along with volunteers Christina Cary and Kelly Biggi, hosted a cooking class to teach former foster youth how to make quick, easy, healthy and affordable home-cooked meals. Participants learned how to make a delicious pot of chili and homemade cornbread.

The former foster youth are currently enrolled in Unity Care's THP-Plus program, a Transitional Housing Placement-Plus program, which offers former foster youth ages 18-24 affordable housing for up to 24 months.  Youth utilize this time to better their lives by attending school or seeking employment as well as working on developing basic life-skills in preparation for independent living upon graduation.

If you'd like to learn more about Unity Care's volunteer opportunities, please contact Donna Knowlton at (408) 510-3480 ext. 101.

Thanks to a very generous challenge grant from the Winifred Clive Johnson Foundation, we successfully raised funds to host our Summer of Learning program.  In just a few months caring individuals, corporations foundations and organizations all stepped up to help us raise the remaining funds needed to provide life-changing summertime activities for the foster children and families in our care.

In the photo above, foster youth and staff stare in awe of the majestic waterfall at Yosemite National Park.

From June through September, staff exposed our foster children and families to numerous outdoor and educational activities.  A few events include: the Oakland A's Baseball game, hiking at the Yosemite National Park, camping in Santa Cruz, sailing as well as a day of fun and games at our 10th Annual Summer Olympics.  These are just a few of many activities that were made possible through your support.

A complete Summer of Learning report will be available in the near future.

Unity Care Services