By Tim Seyfert
 Robert Kline speaks to Morning Forum. |
For the past 19 years, Bayshore Christian Ministries in East Palo Alto has lent itself to a principal purpose - “giving underprivileged children a better chance,” said executive director Andy Hartwell.
With eight different afterschool and summer programs, the organization works to help kids living in the area’s low-income neighborhoods break out of the pattern of poverty, welfare and youth delinquency.
“We try to reach as many kids as we can. We’ve had a ton of kids who became the first members of their families to graduate high school and some even go on to college,” Hartwell said. “We’ve definitely seen an impact over the years.”
As executive director, Hartwell overseas a small paid staff and a horde of volunteers who work to complete the task of providing services for more than 300 elementary and teenage students each year.
“The main thing we want for these kids is to just finish school,” said Charlie Larson, a 12-year volunteer. “The rest is just helping them eventually become the best people they can become.”
Programs offered during the school year include KidSmart, an after-school tutoring program for first- through sixth-graders; StreetWorkz, which teaches seventh- through 12th-graders leadership skills and ethical lessons; and TeenWorks, an academic program for junior high and high school students including homework assistance, job training, and college and career preparation.
Bayshore sponsors day camps in the summer, as well as year-round Bible studies. It also awards college scholarships each year to high school seniors entering two-year or four-year institutions.
Yet, perhaps Bayshore’s biggest achievement to date is longevity, Hartwell said. The notion of a non-profit staying afloat in today’s sour economic times, let alone for two decades, is indeed a feat in itself.
“People are really behind what we’re doing,” Hartwell said. “We haven’t had to ever cut any programs or make any reductions in our entire history. It just amazes me that we’re still here.”
It’s through the generosity of loyal donors that the organization has not only managed to stay alive, but has also been able to evolve. In April of 2000, Bayshore received funding to move from its longtime headquarters in the basement of a rented house in East Palo Alto to its present location, a recently constructed two-story community center equipped with a computer lab, classrooms and recreation area.
Hartwell started Bayshore Christian Ministries in 1984 with a few of his fellow Stanford classmates. The group began as a loose network of Bible clubs, but grew into a full-time organization after “seeing a lot of needs that weren’t being met in (East Palo Alto), Hartwell said, referring to the higher risk of kids in that area turning to crime, drugs and other risky behaviors.
Since then, the group’s primary motivation has been to ensure that each youth gets a shot at a brighter future, both academically and spiritually, as described on its Web site.
“Bayshore focuses on youth by providing them with quality programs tailored toward their needs,” said Kimberly Li, director of development. “That way, we can hopefully steer them in the right direction.”
For more information, logon to www.bayshore.org.
