Thank you Valero AGAIN!

 Thank you to Rick Morgan for nominating us for the past 4 years!

Fairfield PAL - The Matt Garcia Youth Center

250 Travis Blvd., Fairfield, CA 94533

707-422-MATT (6288)

For hours of operation and more information visit their website @ www.fairfield-pal.org

 

The center was named in memory of 22-year old Fairfield City Councilman, Matt Garcia, who passed away in early September 2008. When Matt ran for city council, one of his campaign promises was to open a teen center. The center was originally to be named the Billy Yarbrough Youth Center, but at the request of the Yarbrough family was re-named.

 

The Fairfield Police Activities League (PAL) Matt Garcia Youth Center builds community by organizing youth sports and healthy activities that develop personal character and foster a positive relationship among police officers, youth and dedicated volunteers.

 

In the past several years, the City of Fairfield was confronted with the growing problem of juvenile delinquency. Through the inspired efforts of Community Leaders, Law Enforcement, and Local Citizens to counteract this trend, the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center was established. The vision of the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center is to provide supervised programs such as basketball, boxing, martial arts, music, multimedia, soccer, dance, running, homework tutoring, and more.

 

The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center reaches out to underserved kids in the City and provides safe, healthy activities which promote teamwork, personal responsibility, self-confidence, exercise and healthy living. At a time when youth are barraged with negative influences and unproductive choices our programs offer safe, constructive alternatives to gang involvement, crime, teen pregnancy, delinquency, video game playing and just plain lethargy.

 

The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center provides a framework of rules and regulations that serve as guideposts for youngsters while they are growing up and will continue to serve them in later years. Dedicated civilians and police officers serve as coaches, instructors and mentors to youth who participate in the Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center programs. For some youth these adults are the only people in their lives holding them to high expectations while teaching basic fundamentals of sports and leadership.

 

The Fairfield PAL Matt Garcia Youth Center is a community based tax exempt charitable organization that raises funds through individual, corporation and foundation support. We leverage each donation ten-fold by the hundreds of volunteer hours our coaches and program volunteers contribute.

Hetain Patel: Who Am I? Think Again

How do we decide who we are? Hetain Patel's surprising performance plays with identity, language and accent -- and challenges you to think deeper than surface appearances. A delightful meditation on self, with performer Yuyu Rau, and inspired by Bruce Lee.

Alessandro Acquisti: Why Privacy Matters

The line between public and private has blurred in the past decade, both online and in real life, and Alessandro Acquisti is here to explain what this means and why it matters. In this thought-provoking, slightly chilling talk, he shares details of recent and ongoing research -- including a project that shows how easy it is to match a photograph of a stranger with their sensitive personal information.

The Matt Garcia Home for Women and Children

• Program supporting 12-18 months, completed November 2009 
• 6,265 square foot building 
• Housing for 63 residents 
• Additional open spaces for family support 
• Resident assistance residence 
• Mixed dorm and private family rooms 
• 2 large lounges for meeting rooms and relaxation 

The Matt Garcia Foundation:

Matt Garcia was a man with a vision. He was the youngest city councilman elected in the state of California in November 2007. Matt was a great young leader and inspiration to all who knew him. Matt was only 22 years old…but he lived more in those short years than many adults can even imagine. He led by inspiration, with integrity and ambition.

Matt’s dream involved supporting the youth and creating places for them to go and things for them to do; Changing a culture of violence and crime in the city through youth involvement. By uniting a community all people will have a sense of belonging and responsibility to the city of Fairfield. Matt’s life was cut short, but his legacy, work and heart live on.

 

The Matt Garcia Foundation was established to carry out Matt’s dream. We are dedicated to the work and efforts that Matt started and hope that we can inspire others to be the change in this world we live in, just as Matt inspired us.

Brilliance, It's In Their DNA: Mike Smith at TEDxYouth@Lincoln

Founder of The Bay and Skate for Change. Mike Smith is a professional speaker who encourages youth to make a difference. In his talk, he challenges both youth and adults to get ready for what this generation will bring to the table.

Gary Slutkin: Let's treat violence like a contagious disease

Physician Gary Slutkin spent a decade fighting tuberculosis, cholera and AIDS epidemics in Africa. When he returned to the United States, he thought he'd escape brutal epidemic deaths. But then he began to look more carefully at gun violence, noting that its spread followed the patterns of infectious diseases. A mind-flipping look at a problem that too many communities have accepted as a given. We've reversed the impact of so many diseases, says Slutkin, and we can do the same with violence. (Filmed at TEDMED.)