Youth On Their Own receives $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist® grant to make a difference
Tucson, AZ – 1.8 million votes were recently cast by 72,000 people in an effort to bring a $25k grant to their own neighborhoods. State Farm is proud to announce the Top 40 vote-getting causes that will each receive these grants to improve their communities.
State Farm Neighborhood Assist is a crowd-sourced philanthropic program that empowers communities to identify issues in their neighborhoods. The top 40 nonprofits will each receive a $25,000 grant to create and execute a plan to address the cause. The 40 winners represented 25 states from around the country.
Youth On Their Own (YOTO), a local non-profit dropout prevention agency, is one of the 40 causes and the only cause in Tucson selected to receive this critical funding. YOTO’s focus is to eliminate barriers to education and empower Pima County’s homeless youth to stay in school. The organization does this through its Student Living Expense Program, which provides accountability-based financial assistance and one-on-one supportive services to homeless and at-risk students. According to David Martin, YOTO’s Director of Programs, “The students served by this grant are students who tell us that they would not graduate without this type of assistance.”
The grant will allow YOTO to provide financial assistance and mentoring to 178 additional homeless students for the school year. The stipends they may earn, based on good grades and attendance, helps students meet their basic needs so they can focus more of staying in school and less on daily survival.
For a complete list of the top 40 causes, please visit: www.neighborhoodassist.com.
Media Contact(s):
Kristyn Conner, YOTO Director of Development
(520) 545-0598
Naomi Johnson, State Farm Media Spokeswoman
(480) 293-6090
About State Farm
The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto, home and individual life insurance in the United States. Its 18,000 agents and more than 65,000 employees serve more than 83 million policies and accounts – nearly 81 million auto, home, life, health and commercial policies, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. State Farm is ranked No. 35 on the 2016 Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com.
About YOTO
In its 31st year of service, Youth On Their Own (YOTO)’s mission is focused: to support the high school graduation and continued success of homeless youth by providing financial assistance, basic human needs, and guidance. Since 1986, over 16,000 homeless students have been empowered to stay in school and pursue opportunities for self-sufficiency.
