Make It Happen for Yolo County team members cheer with volunteers from Discovery Christian Church in Davis, who helped clean and organize the nonprofit organization's storage units. Photo courtesy of Make It Happen for Yolo County.

WEST SACRAMENTO AREA, CA (MPG) - A decade ago, a small group of Davis residents teamed up to make sure that Yolo County’s foster youth had the furnishings and household items they needed to create a home when they moved out on their own.

The nonprofit organization they created, Make It Happen for Yolo County, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, serving under-resourced transition-age youth (approximately ages 16 to 24) who are aging out of the child welfare, mental health or juvenile justice systems.

In 2014, Make It Happen for Yolo County served 12 youth. By the end of the group’s first decade in operation, more than 300 youth were served.

“It’s been really beautiful to watch this community come together to support our local transition-age youth over the last 10 years,” said Jan Judson, founder and board president. “Our small nonprofit has grown into an important resource and we know that’s thanks to our volunteers, donors and partners who have placed their trust in us.”

When a youth is referred to Make It Happen for Yolo County, the team begins by having the youth work with their referrer to fill out a checklist of desired household goods and furniture. Clients are then contacted to meet a Make It Happen volunteer at the group’s storage units in Davis, where they can choose items they want. Make It Happen clients receive a move-in kit filled with a multi-purpose repair tool, cleaning supplies, toilet paper, tissues, gift cards and more. Gently-used furniture donated from the community and household items are provided for every room in their new home, including kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living area. 

“One of our clients recently said about our team, ‘You thought of everything just like a mom would,’” Judson said. “I can think of no higher compliment.”

Resources exist for other basic needs such as rent, food and clothing but no other Yolo County group offers furniture, appliances, household items and the resources needed to furnish a first apartment, according to Make It Happen for Yolo County members. Much of the furniture is donated by community members but household items such as beds, bedding, lighting, appliances, cleaning supplies and more are purchased new.

“Our unofficial motto is ‘If you won’t give it to your kids, we won’t give it to ours,’” Judson said. “We have seen that providing like-new furniture and new, unopened items is important to our clients and shows them they are valued members of our community.”

Over the past few years, the team has focused on expanding outreach to other groups serving transition-age youth, especially high schools, community colleges and UC Davis. Make It Happen for Yolo County has a longstanding partnership with the University of California, Davis Guardian Scholars program for former foster youth who are students at the university and they recognized that working with schools is an effective way to reach more youth.

In the past couple of years, Make It Happen for Yolo County has worked closely with Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento to ensure high school foster youth know about their services when they graduate and prepare to move out on their own.

“When Make It Happen comes to present to our students about their services, I see the kids’ faces light up,” said Maria Munoz, families in transition and foster youth specialist with the McKinney Vento program at Washington Unified School District. “They don’t expect this service to be available. It’s always a proud moment for me when they graduate and reach out to me asking to be connected to Make It Happen. They remember and even connect their friends in other parts of the county. I make sure to talk about their services with every one of the kids I meet.”

A transition-age youth chooses bedding and other items for her new home from the Make It Happen for Yolo County storage units. Photo courtesy of Make It Happen for Yolo County.

Munoz remembers a West Sacramento student in foster care who was working two jobs while going to school. Four months after graduating, Munoz said, the student contacted her to be connected to Make It Happen.

“She really needed the service but said she didn’t have transportation to get to Davis,” Munoz said. “I spoke with the team at Make It Happen and they took care of everything. They helped her select items, loaded up a truck and helped her move everything in. They furnished her whole apartment within three days of her getting her keys. Now she has a full-time job and is going to community college.”

Munoz hopes more Yolo County residents will consider donating funds or furniture to the nonprofit organization.

“These kids are coming with nothing,” Munoz said. “I love that Make It Happen is there for them because they’re students who don’t have a lot of guidance.”

Last year, Make It Happen expanded from an all-volunteer nonprofit organization and hired its first executive director, Cathi Schmidt. With Schmidt in place and rapidly increasing referral partnerships, the team plans to serve 53 youth this year and another 200 transition-age youth in the next five years.

“It was my goal and desire to work for a nonprofit that provides much needed services to the underserved youth of our community,” Schmidt said. “I have found Make It Happen to be an organization that addresses needs in a way that is truly impactful. I’m excited to see how much more we can do over the next decade.”

For more information or to make a financial or furniture donation, visit www.MIHYolo.org.