Expansion of School-Based Mentorship for Young Black Men

This school-based mentorship program supported through YDD and coordination support by the California Community Foundation, the “Building a Lifetime of Options and Opportunities for Men” (BLOOM) Alliance, serves school sites in school districts throughout LA County identified as areas with high inequity in outcomes for young Black and Brown men. The services rendered by the organizations in the alliance connect youth with culturally relevant mentors, provide students with social and emotional development while providing educational support. The three community-based organizations providing services as the BLOOM Alliance are Brotherhood Crusade, Becoming a Man (BAM), and the Social Justice Learning Institute. In academic year 2019-2020, the BLOOM Alliance effectively expanded its reach from 10 to 24 school sites, including schools in the City of Los Angeles, Antelope Valley, Pomona, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Compton, Lynwood, and Inglewood. All previous funds for the program have been exhausted and CFCI funds will provide the additional resources needed to continue the work and expand programming. The BLOOM organizations all focus on addressing protective factors such as self-efficacy, critical reasoning, peer support, empathy, and more in addition to providing group mentoring, skills training, and academic support. All three entities have programs that focus on leadership development, community building, civic engagement, socio-emotional learning (SEL) and cultural competencies, relationship building, and engagement in culturally responsive approaches. They aim to promote positive self-expectations, as well as socioemotional, academic, relational, and social outcomes for the youth in their programs. They are all primarily focused on serving young men of color, particularly Black and Brown youth.