History of Sactown Heroes

The group was created back in January of 2006 during the creation of the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition. The Sactown Heroes were originally just a few youth who found interest in their community and began leading focus groups at various schools in the Washington Unified School District. The goal of these focus groups was to find out how youth felt about their community. Based on an evaluation of these focus groups it was found that most youth didn’t feel safe in their community or that there was anything positive for them to do. As a result the West Sacramento Youth Resource Coalition came up with a very specific work plan to overcome some of these issues.

Since then the Sactown Heroes has grown to over 25 members. One main focus of this amazing group of young people is to develop leadership skills that will help them in the future. The reason this movement has been so successful is due to a program supported by the Sierra Health Foundation called the REACH initiative. Sierra Health Foundation funded seven different communities that would create and support  opportunities for youth development.  In an amazing effort West Sacramento  was one of the seven communities to receive funding.

Currently the Coalition and the Sactown Heroes are partnering with different agencies and organizations within the community to increase supports and opportunities for youth. You may have even read about some of the upcoming projects in the local papers.

The motivation for these youth is to change the way adults and the community view youth and their abilities. The Sactown Heroes have begun to work hand in hand with professional adults who support their work. We would like to invite community members to join us in the work of the Coalition to help make the community a better place for our youth and for all residents of West Sacramento. Let’s help youth be the solution.