Social Advocates for Youth is pleased to announce Jynessa Lazarroni, 19, has joined its board of directors with the goal of giving the young people who depend on SAY’s programs and services a greater role in the agency’s management.
Jynessa is a foster youth who recently aged out of the foster care system. She was named the board’s youth representative in mid October. Fellow board member Nancy Fastenau says Jynessa’s unique insight, along with her energy and creativity, will help SAY better serve Sonoma County’s at-risk children and families.
“I am excited to have Jynessa on the board because she has expertise about SAY’s programs and services that adult members do not,” Fastenau explained. “I truly believe an organization that serves primarily young people needs to hear from and work with young people to be relevant in the field. SAY will be better for including Jynessa in a leadership role.”
Jynessa sees her new position as a natural progression in her relationship with SAY. A foster child for more than 10 years, Jynessa became involved with Social Advocates for Youth several years ago when she was diagnosed with depression and got help through SAY’s counseling services. She later found a job through its youth employment program. And a year ago, she moved into SAY’s Tamayo House for emancipated foster children, quickly becoming an ambassador for the transitional living center on Yulupa Avenue.
“A lot of the support I’ve received in the past few years came through SAY,” she explains. “They’ve made a huge difference for me. The people at SAY have really motivated me to be the best person I could be instead of giving up. Physically and emotionally, I wouldn’t be as far along as I am.”
For example, Jynessa believes that without Tamayo House, she’d be struggling with housing and other basics. She doubts she’d be happily juggling the busy schedule she now keeps: a part-time job, classes at Santa Rosa Junior College and volunteering to help other foster youth find their footing when they leave the system.
In addition to her work with SAY, Jynessa is a founding member and event coordinator of Voices, a nonprofit organization offering guidance to teens and young adults aging out of foster care. Run by foster children for foster children, Voices started in Napa in five years ago and expanded to Santa Rosa earlier this year.
As a SAY board member, Jynessa’s priorities are to get more young people participating in the discussions and decisions concerning the agency’s offerings and to consistently present the point of view of those who rely on Social Advocates for help.
“I think starting there is definitely a first step,” she said.
Jynessa’s also ready to make a case for the need for donors and volunteers. “I would really like to tell people that investing in young people is an investment in the world and the future. Knowing we’re the up-and-coming leaders, why wouldn’t you invest in us? I don’t think there’s anything more valuable than that.”
Social Advocates for Youth offers education, counseling, job training, mentoring and substance abuse prevention services for children, teenagers and their parents. Its Rev. James E. Coffee House Shelter provides crisis intervention for runaway and homeless youth. And SAY’s Tamayo House Transitional Living Facility houses young adults who have aged out of foster care or are homeless. Social Advocates for Youth has offices in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and Healdsburg.
