The intro to Scouting enrichment program is 2 Tiers: Scouting related activities and STEM activities. Scouts have learned how to build their own birdhouses for the community and homes using popsicle sticks, hot glue, and bird feed. They were able to choose an individual project or in groups. Scouts took part in educational lessons around water conservation and energy efficiency and how they can make positive impacts in their own households. They created project posters showing how they can be environmental stewards within their own community. Gardening day included a lesson plan focusing on teaching Scouts where our food comes from and how to take care of their own herb/vegetable garden. Scouts took home their own potted seeds to start their garden.

The program fostered environmental awareness by teaching conservation principles and encouraging participants to become stewards of natural spaces. Youth and families developed practical skills like hiking, navigation, and safety, boosting confidence in outdoor activities. Immersive experiences at Emerald Bay allowed participants to explore natural history through plant identification, animal tracking, and ecosystem studies, fostering a connection to nature and biodiversity. Group activities and challenges strengthened community bonds, enhanced teamwork, and fostered social connections. Families shared outdoor adventures, creating lasting memories and reinforcing unity. Outdoor activities promoted physical fitness and mental well-being, encouraging healthier lifestyles. Youth participants gained confidence and leadership skills by taking on roles during group activities, empowering them to make decisions, share knowledge, and inspire stewardship within their communities.

The primary partnership for this program is between the Western Los Angeles County Council (WLACC), Boy Scouts of America and Pacoima Beautiful, which took over running the facility we initially planned to work with, Casa Esperanza, in early 2023. While this provided a temporary interruption to our programming, the team rebounded extremely well, and we were able to hit the ground running once they transition was finalized and have had no issues since thanks to the hard work of WLACC Outreach staff and Pacoima Beautiful volunteers. Since re-starting program, we have successfully run uninterrupted weekly programming, for 34 total meetings/community activities. As a result of this partnership, we have created a safe space for many youth members in this community, exposing them to character building programming they otherwise would not have access to. This is especially important as many of these kids reside in low-income, high crime areas where they are exposed to potentially risky behaviors. In addition, these Scouts have engaged with the community in a positive way, doing outreach and even performing skits for the community at the End of Summer Celebration. One of our greatest successes is earning the trust of the community, and more importantly, the parents of these youth, who know their children are safe when they are in our care and will be exposed to programming that will provide character development, leadership development, citizenship training, and personal and mental fitness. Together, Pacoima Beautiful and WLACC have cultivated a healthy working partnership that has allowed us to positively engaged the youth members we serve and the local community.

Our programming was on hold for close to 10 months (October 2023 to August 2024) due to a change of ownership at our community homebase, Casa Esperanza. The location remains the same, however we had to come to a new agreement to rent the facility so we could resume programming and get the youth members back into the program as soon as possible. In a partnership with Chase Bank, financial literacy classes were offered to both Scouts and parents. This class gave insight to the importance of finances in their lives. Representative Juliana brought an innovative and engaging method to understanding money management through pizza slices, this also fed all participants.

One of the things we found effective was to utilize Whatsapp group chats with parents of Scouts attending events. This made it easy to communicate all information in one place for all parents, enabled us to answer questions quickly in real-time. There is an inherent lag in email, so it was nice to be able to have an open and ongoing discussion where parents, staff, and volunteers could all engage. We also found it helpful to hold trainings in a group setting for adult volunteers and parents. Since our Youth Protection Training is done on the computer, we wanted to make sure those who were not tech savvy had the support needed to be able to complete the trainings in a timely manner, as no adults are able to work with youth until this is completed. We also made sure to include trainings in Spanish, as not all of our parents speak English. We had predetermined designated parents to provide volunteer support on a given activity day so we could ensure adequate coverage well ahead of time. Parents would help send pictures and updates throughout the day via the Whatsapp group. We experienced a challenge with youth bringing nutritious meals with them to events. To address this, we helped youth and parents organize healthy meals plans so we could help youth members put together a meal. Parents filled out and returned allergy forms to ensure we were made aware of any dietary restrictions.

Due to the closure of our CHB, there is not a lot of updated information to share at this stage. The primary unforeseen challenge was the unexpected closure of the CHB and transition of ownership, who did not initially honor our agreement with the previous owners. As a result, we had to work hard to negotiate with the new owners to resume our program and made sure to get a contract in place stipulating we would be able to run program over the course of the next 3 years and then we would revisit the facility agreement.