WOW! 2024 was an exciting year for us at Chance to Excel and we are honored to share updates of the amazing progress and accomplishments of our partners and our foundation. Our team continues to grow in our commitment to supporting worthy causes aligned with the mission & vision of our foundation, in the Bay Area and beyond.
We take great care to work with our partners to determine ways to use process improvement techniques to ensure that the programs we are working on are financially sustainable.
Arts
Our support of the Arts continues to expand with a few breakthrough projects resulting in an increased number of young people receiving exposure to the Arts through program development and active participation. We continue our steadfast commitment to ensuring that art in all its forms is always available for our children.
Chance to Excel continues to support the Arts in Oakland, California. Through the support of our network, to date, we’ve donated $7,607 to bridge cost disparities covering program expenses including the cost of Classroom Materials & Supplies. This ensures every Elementary School student (Grades TK – 5) has access to a rich array of art supplies throughout the school year, affording “The Art Project” to maintain their current level of service to schools.
We’ve contributed to The Art Project by Daniel McClain since 2018; they have a proven track record of delivering engaging and educational art lessons, growing their model to include a fixed fee per project which includes all instructor expenses. Their goal is to ensure access to quality art supplies, while fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for artistic expression for young artists across the East Bay. The Art Project’s expanded reach has included Lincoln Elementary School (Oakland), Joaquin Miller Elementary (Oakland), Corpus Christi School (Piedmont), Palomares Elementary (Castro Valley), Proctor Elementary School (Castro Valley), and Vannoy Elementary School (Castro Valley).
Chance to Excel, in partnership with UC Santa Cruz’s ArtsBridge program placed 12 division-wide UCSC Arts scholars: 10 Undergraduates and 2 Graduate student-teachers, into K-12 Santa Cruz County schools. Chance to Excel funded $30,000 in support of the ArtsBridge goal of alleviating the financial burden for ArtsBridge Scholars and empowering them to see Arts education as a potential professional pathway. After completing the ten-week Fellowship, the 10 Undergraduates and 2 Graduate student-teachers received $2,500 for their time in the classroom, also inclusive of supply reimbursement and travel stipend.
In 2024, Chance to Excel provided the seed money to establish NorthWest Vocal Arts (NWVA) Directed by Dr. Samuel Barbara in Portland, OR.
Mentorship from Chance to Excel’s Clinch Fuentes, in tandem with seed money from the nonprofit, helped bring to life the dream of offering free tuition for its youth choir where the students are paired with professional vocalists as mentors.
Chance to Excel shares in the belief in the power of musical excellence, youth mentorship, and community outreach to foster generational transformation: “we believe in the universal language of music that can bring us all together”.
During their first winter concert this past December – over 350 tickets were sold! Together we raised about $9,000 in tickets and about $10,000 in donations.
NWVA is well on their way towards adding programs and becoming financially self-sustaining in the coming years.
Sports
The Monterey Bay Rugby Association’s goal is to promote youth rugby throughout the greater Monterey Bay region. They create community based rugby clubs that are accessible to all bodies, athletic abilities, and genders.
Chance to Excel funded all the seed money ($10,000) to help with the cost of starting up their nonprofit (lawyers, applications, etc) and other start-up costs like field rentals, jerseys, and other equipment. In addition to grant support, Chance to Excel’s mentorship explores ideas of The Monterey Bay Rugby Association growing to become self-sustainable in the near future.
Currently, in Monterey, 27 youth and middle school kids (and growing) are participating in the sport; 2 high school kids with 4 coaches dedicating their time and know-how to these eager rugby enthusiasts. They practice at Lincoln Park in Marina (Lee Ave) Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 pm – sunset.
In Watsonville, they currently have 7 High School students with 1 coach kicking off their rugby league!
Learning Differences
One of our main areas of focus for the last three years has been working with CuriOdyssey Science Playground and Zoo.
We have sponsored several of their inclusion activities including an inclusion specialist, inclusion materials and Sensory Sundays. Sensory Sundays is a program that was designed for guests of all ages who are neurodivergent, have sensory access needs, and/or have a difficult time in large groups or museum settings. We have been able to encourage additional Sponsors and are proud to say that we feel we have a model to sustain the program without the financial support of Chance to Excel. Working with Aragon Burlingham was amazing as his vision and focus for the science playground and zoo has transformed.
We look forward to continuing to expand our reach with additional support to programs focused on Art, Sports & Learning Differences in 2025!
