“There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace.” – Kofi Annan Finding Adventure Weekend Adventures was founded with the commitment to uplift every child living in vulnerable neighborhoods in San Francisco. We’re on a mission to create access and opportunity for all children so that they can build a future that is bigger than their present.
Growing up in the 1980s in the Western Addition, I experienced firsthand the detriments of living in an adverse environment. My mother did her best, but her addiction to drugs fomented within my siblings and me a state of fear, hunger, and loneliness in a neighborhood that engendered violence and sullied our home. Our building reeked of urine, elevators were always out of order, and the lights that should have brightened our hallways were dim or broken. Except for on the weekends, where I was inspired to reach for a life that was brighter than the one I had known. Every weekend, my father would drive to Western Addition to bring my sister Makeba and me to our grandmother’s house in Vallejo. Vallejo was a new world for us. Chickens would strut around the backyard, pecking for seeds. Rose bushes bloomed in the garden sweetening the air. Makeba and I would spend our days picking peaches from the trees and peas off the vines. We would go fishing and camping and played endlessly in the yards. And when the familiar chimes from the ice cream truck could be heard from a block away, we would care-freely charge outside. Our adventures in Vallejo provided us with a safe and nurturing environment where we could thrive. On those weekends, when we stepped outside, the dangers we faced on our day to day – the dangers that as children we couldn’t change – faded away. Today, as a mother of three and an ardent child advocate, I am bringing adventures much like the ones my sister and I experienced to children growing up in distressed neighborhoods. It is my goal that these adventures ignite play, unlock opportunities, embolden dreams, and magnify each child’s boundless potential.
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March 2023
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