Friday, April 28, 2017

One Man's Journey From Gang Member to Academia



Victor Rios says he has lived two lifetimes. In his first, he was a gang member, juvenile delinquent and high school dropout. Today, he's a sociology professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who studies at-risk youth.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Join Us For Our Monthly Community Clean Up on Saturday!

 
When: Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 9am 

Where: Starbucks Downtown Fairfield 700 Jefferson St Corner of Jefferson & Texas (map)

Description: We meet every last Saturday of each month (weather permitting). We clean up different locations and neighborhoods. Please join us. All are welcome

At the Matt Garcia Foundation we don’t want to complain about this, we want to create solutions to problems. It is with this spirit that we began our Monthly Community Clean Ups.

On the last Saturday of every month, volunteers get together and clean up a neighborhood in Fairfield. We pick up trash, work on landscaping paint windows, fix fences – all in an effort to improve our community. This is another example of community coming together to help make a difference.

The Matt Garcia Foundation Dream Team, is all about stepping up and stepping out of ourselves to serve others and our communities to be a part of the solution. Matt would say ” if you see a piece of garbage on the ground, please just pick it up” How simple is that! So, that is what we do.

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Support The Matt Garcia Foundation Through AmazonSmile!

Click the logo above to start shopping!

You can help support The Matt Garcia Foundation by shopping through AmazonSmile.

  • Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to The Matt Garcia Foundation whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
  • AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same Amazon Prime benefits.
  • Support your charitable organization by starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Helping High School Youth Learn by Doing



Since 1994, YouthBuild has trained 110,000 high school dropouts around the country to put up houses for their community and think critically in the classroom while earning their GEDs or diplomas. As part of the American Graduate series, Paul Solman reports on a program designed to keep kids learning inside and outside of class.

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Monday, April 10, 2017

Forgiveness in an Age of Anger


We think we're entitled to "righteous anger", but is it really so righteous? And does anger actually help us fight injustice? In an increasingly angry culture, Brant Hansen encourages us to re-think our assumptions, and embrace a lifestyle of forgiveness.

Friday, April 7, 2017

The Real Roots of Youth Violence | Craig Pinkney | TEDxBrum


Video games and hip hop music often take the rap for inciting violence in the young, but urban youth specialist and lecturer Craig Pinkney knows that is far from the whole story. Craig shares his experience in engaging disaffected and violent youth, going beyond systems to find the root causes. He also calls for this to move from ‘not my problem’, to an issue with much greater community support.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

National Crime Victims' Rights Week - Ceremony Today at Noon in Fairfield!


Ceremony Location: The Matt Garcia Career and College Academy, 1100 Civic Center Drive, Fairfield, CA 94533

Local Ceremony Date: April 4, 2017

Ceremony Time: 12:00 Noon

"NCVRW will be commemorated April 2–8, 2017, and this year’s theme— 
Strength. Resilience. Justice. 
—reflects this vision of the future. One in which all victims are strengthened by the response they receive, organizations are resilient in response to challenges, and communities are able to seek collective justice and healing."

Since loosing our son, we have supported this week of recognition at various capacities. This year we are taking a STAND with our Local Community partners to recognize our Strength, Resilience, and Justice at an increased capacity.

Teresa, President of the Matt Garcia Foundation has local Artist Mr. Chad Glashoff committed to create a Community Art Sculpture in Honor of ALL those that have been effected by Violence. The unveiling of this Community Art Sculpture will take place during a Community ceremony with the District Attorneys office, Police Chiefs of Solano County, and others that serve Victims of Violence. 

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Ilona Szabó de Carvalho: 4 Lessons I Learned from Taking a Stand Against Drugs and Gun Violence



Throughout her career in banking Ilona Szabó de Carvalho never imagined she’d someday start a social movement. But living in her native Brazil, which leads the world in homicidal violence, she realized she couldn’t just stand by and watch drugs and guns tear her country apart. Szabó de Carvalho reveals four crucial lessons she learned when she left her cushy job and took a fearless stand against the status quo.