Our Signature Mentoring Program
We empower aged-out foster youth & youth from at-risk backgrounds to achieve independence, overcome personal obstacles, and reach their fullest potential.
The Mentoring Program
Our signature program offers 1,000 to 3,200 hours of services (up to 20 months) designed to help facilitate positive growth, healthy mentoring relationships, personal coaching, and pathways to a lifetime of independence.
Our Adult Mentors (staff and volunteers) are trained on how to work in trauma-informed environments. They also complete monthly training in Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI).
Compassion Planet's Mentoring program includes:
Trainee Blueprints
As youth begin the on-boarding process in our Mentoring Program, they spend extensive one-on-one time with our therapists to establish baselines through communication and assessments. Our goal is to create a personal Blueprint that will help our program team create custom pathways for achieving healthy independence, finding wholeness, and discovering tools for long-term success.
Basic Life-Skills Training
In addition to on-the-job training internships, we also offer weekly life skills workshops in financial management, decision-making, health & hygiene, communication, nutrition, character & ethics, leadership, banking & major purchases, and more. While most of our youth lack basic life skills, our goal is to equip them with everyday tools before they graduate to help them become well-rounded adults.
Soft Skills Group Sessions
Our youth participate in group sessions that provide psycho-education therapy. Weekly topics may include coping skills, emotional intelligence, conflict management skills, healthy relational skills, and boundaries, which provide soft skills and healthy tools for life.
Thumbs to Hands Training
Compassion Ranch and Deer Creek Farm provide amazing learning environments and opportunities where youth can discover how to work their hands. By training alongside mentors who have built their careers in the trades, we believe their experiences may spark an interest in vocations that work with their hands. We also know that a labor shortage in the trades has opened a window of opportunity for sustainable employment in a rewarding career field.
Workforce Development Training
Our Workforce Development provides on-the-job training through paid internships in controlled environments at ten different locations (this includes seven social enterprises owned and managed by Compassion Planet, such as Deer Creek Farm, Compassion Thrift Stores, Compassion Kitchen, etc.). In these environments, trained mentors work together to empower youth with employment skills, workplace dependability skills, and a strong work ethic to ensure sustainable employment. Our Workforce Development Training teaches on-the-job skills including: customer service, computer coding, inventory controls, sales & marketing, merchandising, digital marketing, warehouse & shipping, event planning, light construction, food service, maintenance, gardening, and more.
Mental Health Coaching
Participating youth in the Mentoring Program receive weekly one-on-one mental health coaching sessions with our clinical social workers. Coaching helps youth work through trauma, anxiety, addictive traits, and childhood pain while offering tools and pathways to find wholeness. We train volunteers and staff in trauma-informed environments along with Trust-Based Relational Intervention to work alongside our trainees. We also provide Mental Health services and Educational Therapy on topics such as coping skills, conflict management skills, healthy relational skills, boundaries, emotional intelligence, and personal therapies to achieve wholeness.
Career-Related Certifications
All youth in our program will receive training and certification in CPR & basic first aid, OSHA 10 training, and ServSafe for food handling. Additionally, we also help participants with completing their GED, graduating, or completing the requirements to receive a California Driver’s License.
Hire Me Next Coaching
We offer resume building, career assessments, application & interview assistance, and career coaching for youth close to graduating from our Mentoring Program. We also continue to build relationships with local businesses for internships and job placements. Based on interest and aptitude, we also assist our youth with their next steps - whether it is pursuing college, trade schools, internships, apprenticeships, or career certifications.
The After Care Program
A lifelong program for graduates that includes services and staying connected to a
community. Our goal is to help ensure lifelong growth and success.
Compassion Planet's After Care Program includes:
Care Check-ins
We provide lifelong care through trimester check-ins, designed to create ongoing support throughout the year. Our goal is to make sure youth stay connected, never spend a holiday alone, and let them know we are still available no matter what.
Alumni Events
Graduates of Compassion Planet are invited to come back and take part in 3-4 alumni events throughout the year which may include a movie night at a local theater, a professional sporting event, a holiday party, a picnic, or a barbecue.
Trainee Emergency Advancement Fund
Our Emergency Advancement Fund is available to support our graduates when emergencies arise. This may include meeting financial needs, providing educational tools, and/or personal coaching through the challenging season.
Housing Opportunities
Graduates and participating youth at Compassion Planet have opportunities to acquire affordable rent until they find a career that can afford market rates. Although limited opportunities currently exist, our goal is to expand this service to help our youth build their credit and rental history.
Compassion Ranch
Overview: The newly acquired Compassion Ranch is a 4.4 acre parcel that boasts a primary residence and a 3,000 square foot shop/learning center with an auto lift. The property has over 30 fruit trees, a large chicken coop, a four bedroom home, and three entrances onto the property.
The Needs: The high cost of housing in the greater Sacramento area has become a challenge for youth in our programs. Sustainable careers and interest in the trades are on the decline among the youth we serve.
The Solution: Compassion Ranch will offer affordable rent to current trainees and graduates, which will provide a bridge for youth needing time to grow in their career field and reach an income that can keep pace with the housing market.
Dreaming Forward: Our dream is to create a Thumbs to Hands learning program to help spark an interest in the trades among our trainees while helping them gain confidence in trade-oriented skills. To learn more about this program, watch the video below!
Sacramento Campus
On August 1, 2022, we signed a lease for a 4,200 square foot space in the Sacramento Arden Arcade area and assembled our team. While enlarging our collaborative partners in the area, we opened interviews to youth to form our first Sacramento Mentoring Program cohort.
Our new Sacramento County offices are in the Arden-Arcade area near Watt and Arden. The 4,200 square foot complex features multiple offices, strategic planning space, a large training center, counseling offices, a small kitchenette, and a creativity think tank. We also have plenty of space for multiple social enterprises which will include digital marketing services for small to medium-sized businesses, audio-video services, and an e-commerce store. Along with training, therapy and motivation, the start-up social enterprises will include digital marketing services for small to medium businesses (Foster Your Marketing), as well as video and audio services in another enterprise we are calling Foster Your Voice.
We have just completed the process of building our Sacramento chapter team and our plan is to bring Sacramento-area youth into the program next month. The need is huge in South Placer’s neighboring county and we are looking forward to doing our part in making a difference in the lives of youth who simply need empowerment, family-like love, healthy structures and people to believe in them.
Our Trainees
Get to Know Us. Stop by one of our Compassion Planet businesses.
ALEX
Since age 9, Alex was placed in over 26 foster/group homes. In her own words, “Depression, PTSD, anxiety, and bi-polar have taken a huge toll on my life.” She now considers her traumatic experiences a blessing, “as they have made her the woman she is today.” Alex hopes to become an inspiration to other foster youth by writing an auto-biography. She is currently a Mental Health Support Worker.
JARAEL
Jarael joined Compassion Planet at the age of 21 and he flourished in our Mentoring Program. At a young age, he and his eight siblings were separated and taken into the foster care system. While at CP, it didn’t take long to discover that he was an eager and quick learner with a kind heart and a winning smile. His dream was to become an auto mechanic and own a shop someday. Since graduating, Jarael has worked at a couple of local auto dealerships and completed his Auto Mechanic Certs at Sierra College.
MATTHEW
Matthew has suffered from depression and PTSD as well as having Asperger’s. He hopes to overcome an abusive past and one day become a therapist so he can help others through their “tough situations.” Today, Matthew continues to work hard at overcoming some of his challenges as he successfully works at a local fastfood chain.
ALLISON
Allison has struggled with anxiety and depression throughout her life. Since working with Compassion Planet, she has gained outstanding social skills and has grown in self-confidence. In her words, Allison “wants to be a voice for those who cannot speak by helping and protecting others.” Soon to graduate, Allison will be pursuing a career in auto-mechanics. Allison is happily married to her teenage sweetheart and she looks forward to starting a family of her own.
JAH'MAR
Jah’mar was encouraged by his brother to join the Mentoring Program and we are glad he did. We soon discovered his high energy, friendly demeanor and positive attitude was contagious. While in our program he was hosted by an amazing local family who helped Jah’mar reach his dream of getting a football scholarship. He also enrolled at Sierra College and played on their football team. After two years on the squad, his dream came true as he was offered scholarships from multiple colleges. Today, he is finishing his college football career and education in Lousiana.
JASPER
According to Jasper, “After years of being misunderstood, constantly changing schools and workplaces, Compassion Planet has been an exemplary source of stability, good intentions and socialization for me. I am continually motivated by the good ethics that those at Compassion Planet possess.” Jasper successfully graduated our program after much personal growth. Since then, he has continued to be employed in two retail environments as he successfully pursues his entrepreneurial dreams.
ADRIAN
Drug addiction tore apart Adrian’s family, forcing he and his brothers into foster care. At age 18 he reached out for help, got a place of his own, and helped his brother get sober. Now, in his young twenties, Adrian has permanent employment with a local restaurant. Speaking about CP’s Mentoring Program, Adrian says, “people actually care about my well being... If I need help it’s only a phone call away.” Adrian has an outstanding work ethic and we are confidant that he will add value to any place he is employed.
BRITTANY
In her own words, Brittany states, “Compassion Planet has taught me to be more positive and to look on the brighter side. I continue trying to live without being so stressed. Being at CP has helped me learn how to relax, take my time, and do the work right.” Since graduating, we are proud to say that Brittany has been employed at a local daycare.
CRYSTAL
Gambling, alcohol and drugs wreaked havoc on Crystal’s childhood. Entering foster care at age 12, she was in 6 different foster homes by age 18. Crystal appreciates the CP program because it has made her “feel more complete” and has allowed her to “be herself.” Crystal achieved incredible growth in her people skills and self confidence while in our Mentoring Program and now she is flourishing in a large retail environment.
JOICELYN
Born in a Sacramento County jail, Joicelyn was a drug baby and separated from her mother at birth. Over the years she has faced her obstacles with an unrelenting, positive attitude. While in our Mentoring Program, she learned to trust people and gained an loving family network who helped prepare her for life’s journey. Joicelyn is expecting her first child and her sole desire is to be an outstanding mother in every imaginable way. CP helped her connect with a program that provides added loving support, housing and training in parenting skills.
AIMEE
Aimee has dealt with anxiety most of her life. Through the Compassion Planet Mentoring Program, she has become more confident and a little more transparent with safe people. Aimee often shares that some of her weaknesses have become her strengths. After graduating from Compassion Planet, Aimee pursued her dream of becoming a certified Esthetician. We are so proud to see her realize her dream and now she is working in the field in which she has been trained.
JACOB
Jacob was born as a surviving twin to a drug addicted mother who didn’t get into recovery until he was six. Fortunately, his grandmother was able to provide care for him till his mother rejoined them after her recovery. Jacob has completed an Associates Degree in photography. During his time at Compassion Planet he has enjoyed his friendships with staff and his peer group. In Jacob’s words, the Mentoring Program “has made me much more comfortable communicating with people.” Upon his graduation, Jacob will be working with CP’s Hire Me Next team to help him find his long-term career path.
MATTHEW
Matthew has suffered from depression and PTSD as well as having Asperger’s. He hopes to overcome an abusive past and one day become a therapist so he can help others through their “tough situations.” Today, Matthew continues to work hard at overcoming some of his challenges as he successfully works at a local fastfood chain.
Trainee Program Referral
Our workforce development program is for ages 18-24. Potential trainees are referred through social workers, community partners and individuals. If you have someone you would like to refer, please fill out the form below:
This information will be kept confidential and goes directly to the LCSW on staff. They will contact you.
