Through tough times, mentors find ways to stay in touch with kids

A program that began this year at a Community HousingWorks property tries to keep kids engaged. April Prieto was getting anxious at her elementary school's after-care program at the beginning of the year. Sometimes, the rising second grader would cry.

Her mother, Gladys Prieto, decided to try Study Stars, the new after-school program at their apartment building in the Parks at Fig Gardens instead.  "She did way better," Prieto says. "She came out of her shell more in this program. I was scared to leave her, but since the first day, it has been amazing. April told me one time she wanted to go to 'afterschool' instead of to regular school. I told her it doesn't work like that."
 

In-person school ended in March, when families were told to stay at home to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. That meant April's afterschool program, a joint project between Community HousingWorks, a NeighborWorks organization in Fresno, California, and Every Neighborhood Partnership, stopped meeting in person, too. Seven-year-old April says she misses it. That's one of the reasons the mentors and staff in the program decided to send letters to their 12 students. 
 

"We weren't reaching them on the phone because some of their parents worked," says Talia Ramirez Diaz, who leads the program. "It got harder and harder to communicate."
 

April liked the letters. And Diaz says communication has improved in recent weeks, as staff has brought lunch deliveries to the students. They've also taken virtual field trips to places like the space museum in Houston and the Smithsonian.
 

 "A dinosaur museum," April says. She liked the art museum best.
 

Gladys Prieto says their home is filled with April's artwork – things she drew or painted when she was smaller and things she's doing now, with the paints she received from her after-school mentors. "Some of them are from years ago so she can remember that time when she was younger," Gladys Prieto says. "She can see how she's improved."
 

"I like to paint," says April. 
 

The goal of the afterschool program, says Diaz, is to serve as a bridge and to help the students perform better. It includes a lot of one-on-one work. "With COVID and everything, we moved on to virtual."

Diaz says the students don't fully comprehend COVID-19 or recent racial tensions, both difficult subjects for kids and adults.

"With so many things going on, we're trying to keep them engaged and learning," she says. "Being away from school was difficult. They were so used to the routine: school during the day and us in the afternoons. Now they're just home all day long."
 

Lauren Manalo, marketing and communications manager for Community HousingWorks, says the staff is working hard to keep their personal connection with their students.
 

"Community HousingWorks' Study Stars after school program is focused on reading for K-5th graders," she says. "In addition to our e-learning program, the mentors from Every Neighborhood Partnership and Read Fresno have developed training materials not just for students, but also for parents. It's an approach that incorporates students, teachers and parents, and the mentors in our afterschool program to fully support our youth in learning." 
 

Manalo says the students really look forward to the zoom calls. "They're really connected with their mentors," she says. The mentors "are determined to be a consistent presence in the kids' lives. They're really using the power of technology to keep learning fun and interesting."
 

Outside of the school program, Manalo says her organization has been following up with residents by:

As stay-at-home restrictions ease, Diaz says her team hopes to get back to the community center and in-person meetings with Study Stars students, perhaps as soon as July. "Yay!" says April.