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Sophia Project serves children and families who are at risk of recurring homelessness and its effects. We are located in a low income neighborhood in West Oakland. Our programs include infant and toddler program and care, early childhood education, extended hours of childcare, a before and after school program which includes both tutoring and care, artistic activities, a weekend respite program, parenting education and family support services. Working with the children and mothers in this way enhances a healthy family life and creates a firm foundation of early learning, critical to later success in school. Our objectives are to:
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The educational programs we offer draw their inspiration and methods from the insights developed by Rudolf Steiner, world-renowned educator and founder of the Waldorf School movement. This approach recognizes that within each person exists a spark, connected to the wholeness of humanity. If this spark can be nurtured, nourished and protected in the first five to seven years of life, there is the possibility for the person to maintain a connecting thread to humanity through childhood, youth and adulthood despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles. All services are provided by live-in staff and interns who create a safe homelike environment. Project directors have more than 50 years of combined experience working in residential communities serving children and adults with special needs. The parents, predominantly single mothers, work with the program director and participate in Sophia Project daily activities as well as special events and holiday celebrations. This provides them with skills and experiences which increase their ability to nurture their children and to work or pursue continuing education thereby strengthening their families. Studies have shown that homelessness tends to recur in families who have not become part of a community and who continue to feel they do not belong. 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. With dependable and continuous support children and families are able to overcome obstacles that once seemed insurmountable. We have been serving our low-income community in West Oakland since August of 2000. We have seen that this way of working, intensive services for 2 years and a continuing relationship after that, has a lasting impact on the lives of the children and mothers. Contact Us! A word about photographs: in consultation with the families, Sophia Project has decided not to use photographs of the children or families in our literature. Instead we will use artistic renderings. In order to ensure that the children and families will continue to feel this is a safe place to heal and grow without risk of shame or exposure to the neighborhood or larger community, now or years from now, we are happy to honor their wish for privacy. Credits and Thanks Original artwork by Sharry Phelan Wright and Eric Beumer A million thanks to all our funders, we couldn't do it without you! Sophia Project is: |