Youth and Young Adults

CERI began youth programming in 2008 and currently works with approximately 50+ children, teens and transition-age youth each year. Youth programs offer safe and supportive spaces to explore wellness, creative expression and art, set goals, develop community organizing and leadership skills, and advocate for social justice. Programs help youth build self-esteem, confidence, inner strength and relational skills. Youth learn history, including about the Vietnam War, the U.S. Secret War in Laos, and the Khmer Rouge genocide. They begin to understand their personal and family history in relation to political and social history and the refugee/immigrant experience. Due to the success of youth advocacy programs, CERI was awarded Prop 64 funding to expand youth programs for nature-based career development and youth participation in policy, system and environmental change through youth activism and leadership development. Through this work CERI is also building relationships with the Oakland Youth Advisory Commission.

Providing clinical services, support groups, case management and community events for children, youth, young adults and elders, CERI is intentional about bringing families together for care management to heal across generations. We host community gatherings, such as camping excursions, field trips to nature and local sites, and town hall events to talk about issues of concern in the community including anti-Asian violence.

Southeast Asians Mobilize for Equity (SEAME)

This youth social justice and systems-change prevention program provides opportunities for youth (ages 12-18 years) to gain leadership training, practice advocacy skills and receive recognition when they speak out against social justice issues. The goal is to increase participation among Southeast Asian youth living in Oakland to be agents for change through programming that combines youth activism, social justice training, leadership development, mentorship and wraparound services by 2024.

Policy goals will be youth-led and address social justice issues to advance policies that build youth leadership, keep families together and draw connections between multiple, intersectional issues such as intergenerational trauma, poverty, racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, deportation and substance use. Justice Murals SEASAW was a collaborative project between ARTogether and the Center for Empowering Refugees & Immigrants and was made possible through support from the California Arts Council and the City of Oakland Cultural Funding Grants Program.

Youth Community Access

This program provides opportunities for youth (ages 17 - 26 years) to gain access to nature and introduce them to green jobs and careers that can serve as a stepping stone to meaningful employment. The goal of this pilot program is to increase access to nature and promote positive outcomes for at-promise youth from low-income, underserved refugee and immigrant families in Oakland. The project aims to create a model for nature-centered youth development programming that can help end the intergenerational cycle of poverty, incarceration and violence. Through nature trips, outdoor education, environmental education and advocacy, exposure to green jobs and careers, and wraparound services, this program places urban youth on a positive life trajectory to improve their personal, educational and economic outcomes. The project will surround these transitional age youth with a team of adult counselors, mentors, elders and others to support them. Ultimately, the project aims to build environmental justice leaders, providing nature experiences, climate education and career exploration in environmental jobs. Interested? Apply for this program. This project is made possible through support from the The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA).

Wellness & Enrichment

This program provides culturally and developmentally appropriate support for socio-emotional learning and behavioral health with the focus on cultural enrichment, mental health awareness and prevention and academic support.

Youth (ages 5-12 years) will celebrate cultural identity, foster community building, and nurture personal and professional growth through fun and creative activities. The purpose of this program is to promote resiliency and help youth develop their full potentials while embracing their cultural and personal identity. This program will support youth build their self-esteem and confidence and develop more effective communication and life skills. Participating youth will also learn to set goals, become self-sufficient, explore careers, and gain college and career readiness skills.

Care Management

CERI and our youth team provide strength-based, trauma-informed and culturally attuned services through the lens of racial, socioeconomic and LGBTQIA+ justice. We offer mental and behavioral health services and/or care coordination to youth and young adults ages 5-26 years.