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Agency Overview

Mission
Sophia Project serves children and families who are at risk of recurring homelessness. Our core work is to ensure that the children are nurtured and that their physical, developmental and educational needs are met while providing their mothers with time, guidance and support to acquire new abilities to meet their children's needs and stabilize their families.

Statement of Need
It is well documented that the first 5 years of life is the chief formative period for the whole of later life. Healthy early childhood development is the essential foundation for the emergence of a strong, caring capable adult. The families at Sophia Project have experienced homelessness, poverty and often violence and abuse. By providing early intervention and a nurturing stable environment these young and vulnerable children will have a solid opportunity of developing into healthy adolescents and adults.
Studies have shown that homelessness tends to recur in families who have not become part of a community. By creating community with our families, and often serving as an extended family, children and mothers have a safe and nurturing space to develop the skills they need to stabilize. We have found that deep healing is possible through intensive services, and a wise approach to education provided within a thoughtful, caring live-in community. We have also learned that from the time a child and family join Sophia Project, the family's transformation takes a minimum of five years, the first half in the intensive daily program, the second half in various kinds of support.

Program Description

Sophia Project provides early childhood education based on Waldorf principles, infant and toddler care, extended hours of childcare, a small before- and after-school program, a weekend respite program, Saturday school, parenting education and family support. All services are provided by live-in staff and interns, creating a safe home-like environment and providing the possibility of 24-hour availability to meet the urgent needs of families.

Change of Focus
Since August 2000 we have provided for our children and families a very creative daily educational and care program and a multi-faceted family support program. By July 2010 all of our children and families will have completed their time in the intensive daily programs. Beginning in August 2010 we will change the focus from daily programs and family support to focus exclusively on family support.

Our first priority is to protect the gains made by the children and mothers we serve. We will expand our family support services to keep stable the 117 children/46 families we currently serve. The expanded family support has four components:

1. Rainy day assistance: this component of the program assists with the occasional utility, health or food bill or with, for example, the purchase of shoes or a school uniform; in other words the occasional shortfall.

2. Leap forward: this component funds larger one-time costs that will allow the child or the family to take a significant step forward. These costs include: housing security deposits, tuition assistance for those children who have completed our programs and need help to become eligible for future academic scholarships, durable furniture for new stable housing for our families, and adult education opportunities.

3. Loan fund: This component allows our families to access short-term no-interest loans for personal or family emergencies. Typical loans are approximately $300 and they are paid back in 3 to 6 months. The total loan fund is $5,000.

4. Serving as an extended family: this component is and will continue to be an important part of every child's and every mother's relationship with Sophia Project. It includes individual meetings, guidance, referrals, home visits, emotional support, outings, and celebration of the important occasions in the lives of the children and families.

It is widely and consistently acknowledged that Sophia Project has been, and continues to be remarkably successful. Ninety-eight percent of our families remain housed and stable. These families have been able to create and sustain nourishing home environments. All the mothers are employed. Most of the families live in better neighborhoods than previously and, thanks to Habitat for Humanity and our collaboration, several now own their own homes. Sophia Project has received an award for neighborhood renewal. The children who have been part of the early childhood programs are performing well in school; their teachers regularly comment on the social harmony these children bring to their classrooms, their peers, and their school communities.

Internship Program

Sophia Project offers an 11-month internship in service. Interns engage in direct service, curriculum and child development classes, study, reflection and community life. Sophia Project is a site for the first three years of a BA in Curative Education through Camphill Special Schools PA. Sophia Project is also an approved Americorps site.

Organizational Background

Sophia Project has been serving our low-income community in West Oakland since August of 2000. The organization was conceived by Carol Cole, who brings 30 years of experience working with disadvantaged children in need of special care. She has developed programs in such diverse areas as South Africa and Saudi Arabia and, most recently, at Raphael House family shelter in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood, where she was the director of Children's Services.