Academy Stay: Housing and Hope for Former Foster Youth

Jenny Davidson: [00:00:00] When you look around in the greater Sacramento area, of the people who are unhoused, 25% are former foster youth. And so it's just these people who needed this, we call it like a gentle pause. They needed a moment to catch their breath, to be able to try out school, see what they think of college, see what they think of trade school, to not be in immense debt because they're trying to figure it out or, like, having to work four jobs.

Trying to balance all of that while trying to do homework, it's really, really hard

Jeff Holden: Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion are simple, to highlight the incredible nonprofits that make our communities stronger. Each episode is a chance for these organizations to tell their story in their words, sharing not just what they do, but why it matters to the people they serve, [00:01:00] to their supporters, and to all of us who believe in the power of community.

Through podcasting, we hope to amplify their voices, inspire connection, and give them one more tool to impact the hearts of donors, partners, and neighbors alike. This work is made possible through the generous support of our incredible partners, CapTrust, offering fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations, Western Health Advantage, a local not-for-profit health plan that believes healthcare is more than coverage, it's about caring, Core, executive leadership and comprehensive support services.

They work in it so you can work on it, and Five Star Bank, a local trusted advisor to community nonprofits for over 25 years. Imagine turning 18 and being expected to build an adult life without the one thing so many of us take for granted, a safe place to call [00:02:00] home. For young people aging out of foster care, that instability can become the barrier between wanting an education and actually completing one, and that's exactly the problem Academy Stay was created to address.

My guest is Jenny Davidson, founder and CEO of Academy Stay, a Sacramento nonprofit providing former foster youth ages 18 to 24 with beautiful, fully furnished housing while they attend college or trade school, along with life skills training, mentoring, transportation resources, financial education, and perhaps most importantly, a genuine sense of community.

What started as an idea sketched out over lunch has become a 32-unit complex where young adults are finding stability, building independence, and graduating. In less than two years, Academy Stay has already celebrated 14 graduates. But this conversation is about much more than housing. [00:03:00] It's about dignity, it's about belonging, and it's about what can happen when we give a young person what Jenny calls a gentle pause, enough stability to catch their breath, focus on their future, and hear someone say, "I believe in you."

Jennie Davidson, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank you, Jeff. I'm excited to be here. 

Jeff Holden: So am I, because you are one of the newer organizations that is actually getting a lot of conversation, partly because of the success of what you've already started, but I think partly because of the novelty of it.

So let's get started. You had a long history, a career, if you will, in, in community service, and we were just talking about, you know, where you've been and some of the things that you've done. And it was at a late stage that you chose to get your college degree, not one, but both. 

Jenny Davidson: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: Which is extremely commendable.

Jenny Davidson: Thank 

Jeff Holden: you. What was it? What, what were you thinking- ... [00:04:00] you know, at that stage of your life? 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. So in the beginning of my career, my heart was always, I wanna be face to face with the person who I'm helping, and I wanna know that my work, my history of knowledge, whatever, was gonna really impact this one person, right?

And I didn't think that college would serve that, you know, like, case management advocate kind of role as well. And then in 2005, I had a very tragic loss. My youngest son died of a genetic anomaly. At the time, I was working at CPS, and so I couldn't go back to work, you know, and see child abuse every single day.

And so I ended up leaving there and kind of floundering for a minute, and somebody said to me, "Everyone's gonna see that Jordan changed your life, but it's up to you what the change is." And so the next day, I signed up for my very first college class. I was in my late [00:05:00] 30s, and in three years, I got my undergrad in organizational leadership with straight As because I was just like, "I'm doing this for him and it's gonna, you know, it's gonna be kinda his legacy."

And then I went right into my master's program, and I got a master's in business administration and right away started working with Santa Placer with, uh, doing d- h- helping with domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking- Mm-hmm ... survivors. And so for th- that time period, my kind of inner mantra was, "I wanna make the world a better place for children who get to stay."

And I said it 10,000 times, right? Like, that was my whole thing. And then in 2023, he would've been turning 18, and I kind of realigned and s- was trying to figure out what's next for me because, you know, if he had stayed, you know, he wouldn't be a child anymore. Mm-hmm. So I was having lunch with just a really dear friend and he said, "Well, if you could do anything in the world, what [00:06:00] would you do?"

And I'm like, "Well, you know, anything in the world." And I started thinking kinda small at first because, like, I'm not thinking that there's funding just w- you know, somebody's just gonna hand me the money to make this happen, right? 

Jeff Holden: In other words, get that funding out of your head. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. As if 

Jeff Holden: it wasn't. 

Jenny Davidson: He said, "Think bigger."

He said, "Think bigger." So I said, "Well, I would wanna get back to those foster youth who I had to walk away from when my son died. I'd wanna do something for them." So I started really researching what's really impacting foster youth, and especially this 18 to 24-year-old age range. And I found out that 93% wanna go to college or trade school someday, but they have a less than 4% graduation rate.

Right. And I thought, "These are smart kids. Like, they've had to think outside the box. They had to be creative." Like, what, why is this less than 4%? What's that? So I looked into it, and it's really housing instability, financial insecurity, and not feeling like they belong to any kinda community or family or anything.

So I thought, you know, like, "This is something we can build," right? If money really isn't a problem, [00:07:00] like I'm serious if you're serious kind of a thing. So we looked at purchasing an apartment complex. What would that look like? How much would that be? What size would we want? You know, what would it, what would we do, and what would we incorporate there?

And really literally on the back of a napkin at Paul Martin's having lunch, we kind of created Academy Stay, and it was... It's amazing. Like, that was three years ago, and it's going strong. 

Jeff Holden: It really is amazing. That whole conversation is amazing because in, in many cases, just a child incident like that could free somebody.

Jenny Davidson: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: And it actually motivated you. It did, yeah. And, and it took you to another level to then go on to college and then continue, you know, uh, down a path that you saw an opportunity. And boy, if it didn't give you purpose. 

Jenny Davidson: Absolutely. 

Jeff Holden: You know, and, and recognizing that it's the s- foster youth now that you see you can make an impact and you c- [00:08:00] you can change.

And, and we hear this a lot 'cause we've had other foster organizations on, the challenge for these students, kids, young adults, is insurmountable in some cases because you've had something all the way until 18 and then all of a sudden, "Have a nice day." 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And, and, and I know people, and not to, to diminish the fact that people are trying to minimize some of that, that harshness of, of reality when they walk out emancipated, but nonetheless, the majority still are stuck in that situation and, and a percentage of them become homeless.

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And, and those are the same kids that could have gone on to college. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly, and when you look around in the greater Sacramento area, of the people who are unhoused, 25% are former foster youth, and that's Sacramento area. If you look at California overall, it's 33%. Hmm. And so it's just these people who needed this, we call it, like, a gentle pause.

They needed a moment to catch their breath, to be able [00:09:00] to try out school, see what they think of college, see what they think of trade school, to not be, like, in immense debt because they're trying to figure it out or, like, having to work four jobs, you know, that are only giving them, you can work five hours on Tuesday at this job and three hours on Wednesday at that job, and trying to balance all of that while trying to do homework.

It's really, really hard. And then that's not even counting, like, how are you gonna get food? How are you gonna pay for your Wi-Fi so that you can do your homework in the evenings, and stuff like that. So we thought, "Okay, this is something we can overcome," and with the help of really great community partners, we had, uh, Sacramento Impact Partners, they funded all the furniture, so that was over $100,000.

So they, all the units are fully furnished, from everything with, like, couches, beds, dressers, the things you really think about, to the things you might not think about. So there's dishes, there's pots and pans, there's mixing bowls, there's All the way down to dental floss. We wanted to make sure that everything they need the day they move in is [00:10:00] there ready for them.

Jeff Holden: And let's take a step backwards, 'cause we haven't introduced really what A Cabin In The City is. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's, we just furnished something- Yeah ... that nobody knows what we're furnishing. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So tell us a little bit what, what that is, what happened, how that came to be. 

Jenny Davidson: Sure. 

Jeff Holden: So- 'Cause that's, that is, that in itself is the answer right there.

Jenny Davidson: Absolutely. We found this really great apartment complex with 32 units, so four of those units are used for staffing things, but we completely renovated 'cause it had had a lot of deferred maintenance, and it w- it was pretty bad. But we did a lot of renovations, put in, like, beautiful flooring. They're very, very nice units, and these y- young people can come if they're 18 to 24, they, and former foster.

They apply right from our website, then they get their, you know, interview. They come in. They can have a unit. They have a roommate. We m- did that on purpose because they might need a roommate in the future. We want them to learn how do you have talks with your roommate about the loud music [00:11:00] or the air conditioning is too cold or it's too warm or all of the different things like you never wash your dishes and you didn't put the silverware away, all the things that people fight the first time they're living together.

You ate 

Jeff Holden: my frozen pizza. That 

Jenny Davidson: wasn't yours. Exactly. Exactly. So we d- designed it that way on purpose, and it's just a beautiful complex. We have CARB funded for us to have a big garden, like, with raised garden beds, so I think we have s- Which is 

Jeff Holden: California Air Resources Board. 

Jenny Davidson: Yep. Yep, yep. Yeah. And, and the Sacramento neighborhood activating on air quality together.

So we have a beautiful garden where they can get fresh vegetables. We make sure that it's diverse, right? So, like, maybe there's a certain vegetable that they had as kids that they maybe didn't get in foster care, or they never had it and they know it's part of their culture and they'd like to try it. So we have a very diverse garden where they can, you know, grow whatever they want, and great picnic table area.

Really did our best to make it feel like a place where they can have community, which was one of the three [00:12:00] factors. But the thing I've really loved is they have a s- a Slack channel, right, where they can post whatever. 

Jeff Holden: Just the building for all the, the, the students and youth in it? 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. Well, no. Slack, 

Jeff Holden: like- The- their own Like, oh- No, it is channels their own, just- Oh, yeah, yeah

just, just amongst themselves. 

Jenny Davidson: Well, we're in it, too. 

Jeff Holden: Gotcha. Okay. 

Jenny Davidson: But yeah, so this is where we'll tell them, like, "Hey, there's life skills." So we do have life skills classes on the weekdays where they can go and learn everything from, like, budgeting to cooking to self-care, all of that kinda stuff. And so that's communicated through Slack as well.

But a few things like that, but just not that long ago, I was not there at the time, I saw one student post, "Does anybody have any rosemary?" And I was like It's in the garden. You know, like, I didn't have time to get to my phone to, like, respond. Somebody else said, "There's rosemary in the garden." And the other person said, "How do you pick it?

Like, which one's rosemary?" And the other one said, "I'll, I'll come out there right now and I'll show you how to pick the rosemary and how to put it on your meal and whatever." And I [00:13:00] was not there, but I was just like, "This is the most beautiful moment we've had." That's what's supposed to happen, right? This is the moment, right?

Like, this is it. It's happening. Like, I think even more than the graduations we've seen, we've seen 14 graduations, and that's amazing, but having them communicate on Slack about the garden. Whatever, I don't know why that was the one that really, you know, it really hit me that they're building community, they're building family, they're building something bigger than we could have structurally put together.

Jeff Holden: Well, and it's truly personal. Yeah. That's truly personal. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: I mean, it's your food. I'm gonna help you with your food. And then somebody stepped in to say, "I'm here for you." 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. 

Jeff Holden: That's... I mean, I'm, I'm sure that wasn't prevalent in growing up for a lot of these kids. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. So- A lot of them haven't had it before.

So it's not like a natural thing to reach out and ask for help, and it's 

Jeff Holden: not- And, and on the flip side, to give it. 

Jenny Davidson: To give it, yeah, exactly. So it's, it's a beautiful, amazing thing. 

Jeff Holden: Tell me about some of the, y- you already mentioned one with CARB- 

Jenny Davidson: [00:14:00] Mm-hmm ... 

Jeff Holden: California Air Resources Board. I would imagine you have other partners and other organizations that you work with.

What does the collaborative effort look like to support Academy State? 

Jenny Davidson: Right now we are funded heavily by one specific donor, our board chair. And then also we have a lot of, like, monthly donors. That, that's our bread and butter, like monthly donors. We love that. Occasional donors, you know, Big Dave Giving, things like that.

But we do have several grants. We were just chosen by the Sacramento Region Community Foundation to be part of their two-year cohort. 

Jeff Holden: With the county, Sacramento County? 

Jenny Davidson: Mm-hmm. Yes. With Sacramento County, so that's really exciting. We're working with United Way on the guaranteed income program, so that's very exciting.

We just had a big project with SMUD where they installed four electric car, car charging stations. They're all dual, so we can, eight, up to eight people can charge. 

Jeff Holden: That's awesome. And when you were talking about, you know, CARB, I'm thinking, "I hope she says SMUD. I hope SMUD's interes- some- somehow they've gotta be- 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah

Jeff Holden: they are so involved in [00:15:00] so many organizations. 

Jenny Davidson: Absolutely. And they also funded, Soroptimist funded for us to get electric bikes for the youth to use to get to and from school or whatever. SMUD couldn't fund that, but they funded all the infrastructure. So the, the little corral where they're locked up, the place to charge the batteries so there's not a fire hazard, and the bike racks and classes for them to learn safety, stuff like that, so that was all f- through the SMUD Shine Grant.

So, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And, and as we record this, and, uh, you know, we've been thrilled to promote that and support it because it's meaningful. 

Jenny Davidson: It's super meaningful. And then when, when we were at the recipient, like, celebration, we met SABA there, and so they have been teaching the bike classes. So- 

Jeff Holden: Which is Sacramento Area Bicycle Association.

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. Sorry. Too many- That's okay. I'll- ... too many acronyms. I'm glad you know them. 

Jeff Holden: I do. 

Jenny Davidson: So yeah, that has been a great partnership as well because we really want the students to be safe out there and to get all of that instruction as well. [00:16:00] Golden One is helping us to do financial literacy, and then Chase as well, they're...

And SAFE Credit Union, they just funded us to help, we have a clothing closet and a food closet, and helped with some of that and l- and transportation and stuff and, and they're also part of the financial literacy. So I'm gonna forget somebody and get in trouble. Oh, 

Jeff Holden: that, that, that's... You've done a great job already.

Thank you. And, and, and we do know the, the real essence of the question is to not only identify and, and share, but to exemplify for others who are thinking, "Well, we don't really collaborate with too many people." And the answer is you, you, you better. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You, you have to. 

Jenny Davidson: Absolutely. 

Jeff Holden: It's, in today's environment, if you're not working with other organizations, I mean, some cases the grant applications require collaboration.

They wanna see multiple organizations that are gonna benefit from the grant as opposed to just one. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. And that brings to mind OTTP. Occupational therapy- 

Jeff Holden: That one I didn't know ... TV. 

Jenny Davidson: I don't know. Um, but we work closely with them, and they're operating under [00:17:00] a Sutter grant that's about to end, and so we're applying together for an extension of that- Beautiful

to be able to have their therapists out and working with our students. 

Jeff Holden: You know, and one thing to be, to be clear, I don't know if we covered it, but it's students. It's foster youth- Yes ... 18 to 24, but they must be- Yes ... enrolled. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank you. Thank you. So they do have to go to college or trade school. That was that 93% want to, but less than 4% graduate.

So we wanted to create this whole place for them to come and live while they are completing their education, and so they're not having to think about working four jobs because, you know, they have a safe place to live. They have Wi-Fi, they have... Their utilities are all taken care of them, taken care for them.

And so they're able to do, you know, whether it's a community college or, you know, Sac State or UC Davis, or if it's a trade school, we have quite a few in trades. I wanna say it's probably 50/50 if they're going to a trade school- Interesting. 

Jeff Holden: Okay ... 

Jenny Davidson: or college. 

Jeff Holden: [00:18:00] Yeah. That's, and that's great to hear. A- as I would have expected, you know, the relationship with, you know, the universities, the community colleges, and anybody that can facilitate for these students Integration into so- society and productively.

Jenny Davidson: Right. 

Jeff Holden: Well- And without that burden of I can't, I ha- I don't have a place to live. Yeah. I don't know how to get from point A to point... And, and- 

Jenny Davidson: Trying to sleep in your car ... it doesn't happen. We see these stories all the time about young people having to sleep in their car and then go to school all day.

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Jenny Davidson: And yeah, exactly. They have a, and several of our students when they come to us have been on the streets. I wanna say it's over half for sure were sleeping on the streets the night before they entered our program. And so, you know, it's just they've had it rough. They might not have a lot of clothing.

They definitely don't have things to put in their home. They don't have all of that. And several have said it's the first time they've slept in a bed in a very long time. And a lot have said it's the first time they had their own bedroom all to themselves. And so a lot of it too is just, like, some [00:19:00] dignity that, you know, you give somebody some dignity, especially s- these young people who they're so smart, they're so creative, they've always had to think outside the box, right?

It was never just like, "Hey, you have the same exact life that everybody else in your class has." Yeah. You know, they're the ones who get ta- told to go to the principal's office and there's a garbage bag full of their stuff, and now they're going to a new home, and they never say goodbye to the old home, right?

And they've had to... They went through the pandemic like that. They went through just their most formative years not really knowing where they might sleep later. And so, and then a lot of them, you know, homelessness after that. And so they're just so poised to, like, make a huge change in the world, right?

Like, they're, they've already had to think outside the box. They've already had to do things in a creative way, and there's a lot of problems we have in our world right now where we're like, we need some creative thinkers who don't think exactly like everybody who came before them. And so that's who [00:20:00] these young people are.

Jeff Holden: Right. Well, and, and it was survival for them in many cases. Mm-hmm. They, they had to. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Which is really a shame in the grand scheme of things. And to think that the numbers, if I'm not mistaken, 180, 200 foster youth each year are coming into emancipation in Sacramento County alone. In Sacramento County.

It doesn't sound like a big number, but they're not taken care of, and it's- And it 

Jenny Davidson: adds up fast ... 

Jeff Holden: I- I was just gonna say, yeah, it compounds because- Yeah ... it just keeps growing. And I, I, I struggle to say, how can we not fix this? 

Jenny Davidson: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: You know, how can... It's not that many people. Then you s- as soon as you stop it, as soon as that first 180 is taken care of for the year, that breaks it.

If it can continue, it's broken. It never, it never- Yeah ... it doesn't come back again. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You 

Jenny Davidson: know? That's why I love this whole thing- ... is because, like, in the past working with victims of crime, it wasn't getting solved, right? Right. That number's not going away. That number's not getting, going down.

It's going up. Right. It's, like, doubling, tripling every single year. Where with this, this nonprofit is [00:21:00] literally changing the trajectory of all of these young people's lives, and it can change for the next group and the next group and the next group. And so every year it's going to, you know, like, continue to help, you know, year after year of just all these 182 or, you know, wherever that number lands that year of young people who just need a safe place to live while, you know, they're transitioning out of what happened in foster care.

Jeff Holden: It's so easy to see this. This is a v- this is one of those situations where you can visually see it being corrected. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And what you produce as a result of it being corrected is far greater than even if you just eliminated the housing situation- Right ... because they're graduating. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. 

Jeff Holden: They're going through a program.

It, it's an education is a must. 

Jenny Davidson: Right. 

Jeff Holden: And with your complex, 32 units is 64 when it's completely full, that's a third of this population that you're dealing with. 

Jenny Davidson: It's, it's really, [00:22:00] it's 56, 'cause four of the units are staff- 

Jeff Holden: Ah, okay ... 

Jenny Davidson: staff, right? So 56- I'm 

Jeff Holden: still gonna round it up to a 

Jenny Davidson: third. There you go.

Yeah, 56 kids a year can go through this program and be able to... Some of them might stay for a couple years, right? So it's not always gonna be 56 every year. But I was just in Washington, DC in May kind of advocating for a few, a couple different bills. So one of them was the Chafee Grant, which is what helps pay for their college- 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm

Jenny Davidson: or trade school. It has been 5,000 since 1999. And so that's never gone up 

Jeff Holden: If anybody, DC knows that inflation has impacted- DC ... the society, right? 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, right, especially in 27 years. 

Jeff Holden: Right. 

Jenny Davidson: So, um, we advocated for that to be increased to 12,000, and it unanimously passed in the House. Oh. And so now we're just hoping for the...

Like, if, if it's unanimous, like both sides agree, right, like that never happens. Right. So it'd be really great. We're ho- everybody's still holding out hope for it to pass in the Senate. [00:23:00] And the other thing was just housing in general. So there's something called the Foster Youth to Independence Initiative, and it's a voucher that can pay for their housing for three to five years.

But there's nowhere near enough. Like, nobody even kind of feels like there's enough of them out there. And they were kind of patting themselves on the back a little bit in DC saying, you know, like, "Last year alone, we gave out 1,400." And I said, "Okay, 1,400 when nationally 20,000 age out every year." And these are for 18 to 24-year-olds, right?

So that's six years. That's 120,000 people hoping for th- one of the 1,400 vouchers. Right. Right? And in Sacramento, we get 50 a year. It's nowhere near enough. And so advocating for that as well to get more vouchers into the hands of these young people. And, like, if we do a program and we're like, "Look at this great program, we're helping," you know, what is it, it's like 1%?

Six people, right. Like [00:24:00] that's, that's not it, right? That's not impact. Like, we need to do better, right? And so that's what Academies Say is trying to do is just make sure that housing isn't the reason that they're not able to earn a living wage throughout the rest of their lives. 

Jeff Holden: And in so many cases it is.

That's because from there it just cascades downward. 

Jenny Davidson: Right. And- If you end up homeless at 18, 19, right, like very high likelihood you're in jail by 21. Right. Very high likelihood that you have kids before you're 21. I think it's like 71% or something like that. And you're not even able to take care of your own needs, right?

And now you have other littles that are also depending on you. And so, like, if we just, like I call it the gentle pause, if we just take this moment to help them get their education... You know, we as a society decided, like, our community can raise these kids better than they are being raised at home. But then we just like, like cut bait at 18 or 21, 'cause there are some programs where they can be until they're 21.

But even at [00:25:00] 21, you know, all three of my kids who were raised with every privilege they could be offered all came home at least once after age 21, right? Like, they don't have a home to go back to- Mm-hmm ... that necessarily where it's safe and where it's clean and where they have food and, you know, their needs met.

So that's really the spot we're trying to fill for them. 

Jeff Holden: Well, and what's so neat is it's not just- A place is a fully furnished, fully functioning, fully operational place with support all the way around for all the things that you could possibly encounter- Yeah ... as you had mentioned early on, which is what they need so desperately, 'cause they haven't been exposed to that- 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly

Jeff Holden: more likely than not- Yeah ... in foster care. 

Jenny Davidson: Well, like if they were in a group home, which a lot are because there's not enough foster homes for teenagers, they might not have even learned to cook because they're in a group home and there's maybe like a cafeteria, or there was somebody who came in and prepared the meals.

Or even some foster homes, you know- Mm-hmm ... maybe that just like foster parent, like they didn't track what did you learn [00:26:00] at your last home. Okay, I'll teach you... You know, they may have learned how to make spaghetti five times, but like, right? Like have they really learned a lot of things? So we, one thing we always say is we need to start at square one and start teaching things, right?

And so we always think we start at square one. So for instance, we have apartment checks. Every week somebody's checking their apartment, helping them like learn cleaning skills, but also like organizing their things or, or you know, just like little tips of how to do things. And early, early on, you know, we said, "Okay, here's the list of things you have to clean," right?

You have to clean your living room, you have to clean your bedroom, you have to clean your bathroom, you have to clean your kitchen. And then do the first apartment check, and it's a mess, right? And they're like, "I don't know how to do that." And so- 

Jeff Holden: Well, guess what? We're gonna fix that real 

Jenny Davidson: quickly. Right.

Exactly. So then we thought, okay, clean your kitchen. That includes like take your, all your dirty dishes off your table. Come back, you know, the next day. The dirty dishes are now in the sink. But you know, they haven't been washed yet. And so we always say, "Oh, we didn't start at square one." And so it's [00:27:00] not on them at all.

It's on us. If we didn't start at square one, how do we expect them to learn starting at square 12? Mm-hmm. So that's a common phrase. If something's not going right, "Oh, I guess we didn't start at square one." 

Jeff Holden: And remember, the assumptions are not the same- 

Jenny Davidson: Right ... 

Jeff Holden: for these kids. 

Jenny Davidson: Right. 

Jeff Holden: They've just never been exposed to it.

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. And they're brilliant. It's not like, it's not a lack of motivation. It's not a lack of intelligence. If you have never seen it before, how do you do it? How do you know how to do it, right? 

Jeff Holden: We'll be right back with Jenny Davidson telling us about Academy Stay right after a few words from those who help make this program possible.

James Beckwith: I'm James Beckwith, president and CEO of Five Star Bank. We're dedicated to supporting nonprofit organizations who advocate for the strength, resilience, and vitality of those they serve. When nonprofit organizations thrive, our community does too. By supporting the Nonprofit Podcast [00:28:00] Network, Five Star Bank is amplifying the voices and meaningful impact of our nonprofit community.

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Darrell Teat: We are really excited to be part of the family and contribute to the work that you all are doing. CXORE provides fractional and interim executive services along with comprehensive back office solutions that go into our client sites and do the work to give them the capacity they need in order to move through transitions, whether that's planned or unplanned, or companies also work with our accounting and finance back office solutions, human resources, technology, and administration.

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Jeff Holden: If you're interested in learning more about how CXORE may help your organization, visit CXORE.com.

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CapTrust in our Sacramento office. I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations. Annually, we survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment. In our more recent survey, we heard concerns about proper board governance, mission-aligned investment, and how to implement alternate investments.

If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottthomas@captrust.com. 

Jeff Holden: At Western Health Advantage, healthcare isn't just a service, it's a shared value. As a nonprofit leader, you need a health plan that understands the importance of mission-driven work. Western Health Advantage is a local, [00:30:00] not-for-profit health plan that supports organizations like yours with affordable, flexible coverage options for your team.

But what truly sets them apart is their commitment to community, supporting nonprofits like the American Heart Association, Sacramento Ballet, and the Crocker Art Museum's Pay What You Wish Sundays. With access to top-tier providers and dedicated local support, Western Health Advantage is more than a health plan.

It's a partner in your purpose. Explore your options today at westernhealth.com. Western Health Advantage, healthcare with heart, designed for those who give back Tell me a little bit more about the funding. The, you said the majority comes from individual donors today. Mm-hmm. Obviously, that won't be sustainable forever.

Right. What, what do you see, where do you envision the likelihood that additional funding could come from? 

Jenny Davidson: There's a few. Okay. Like I said, we're applying with Sutter for some of that, hopeful. We just applied for through Sac [00:31:00] Steps Forward through- Yes ... for the HUD NoFO- Very familiar with them ... just happened.

So we applied for that. That one is, you know, that one's really hard, right? Like, it's hard to get your first step into HUD. We've applied I think like Dignity Health. And so a lot of grants just require that you have two years' worth of data, and by the time we finished renovating, our first student came in October of '24.

So we haven't even hit two years of operational activities yet, but I think- 

Jeff Holden: And 14 graduates. 

Jenny Davidson: And 14 graduates already. 

Jeff Holden: In, in less than two years- Yeah ... which is pretty amazing. 

Jenny Davidson: It is. 

Jeff Holden: It is. 'Cause you didn't start out with, with, you know, 56 kids either. 

Jenny Davidson: Right. 

Jeff Holden: You started out with- 

Jenny Davidson: One. 

Jeff Holden: Oh, yeah, yeah, ahead of time and- We 

Jenny Davidson: had one for, like, a month, right?

He, he felt very overly supervised. And, you know, I think by December maybe we had six, right? So it took us a while to, to get up to being fully operational, and we didn't even have all the buildings done. We started with only one building complete, and then the second building got complete, and then it got furnished.

And then we had to buy, you know, [00:32:00] 10 different things of toothpaste and, you know, just all the little things to make sure all of that's in there. Then the next building, you know. So now all four buildings are completed. We put up fencing around the property. We have outdoor cameras everywhere to make sure that things are safe and all of that kind of stuff.

So yeah, 14 graduates. We have one who, she got her bachelor's in psychology, which is fabulous. We just had a graduate who graduated with her associate's from Sac City, and she got an inaugural award for being a world changer and got a full-ride scholarship to UC D- or UCLA. So- Oh, 

Jeff Holden: that's awesome. 

Jenny Davidson: Very exciting.

So she's headed off there in late August, I think, or early September, and it's just, it's, it's a, all of those are just hugely- 

Jeff Holden: And, and it's a, it's a trickle-down too because these kids are together, and they see somebody succeed like that, then they can- 

Jenny Davidson: Mm-hmm ... 

Jeff Holden: they can really realize, "I can do this too." 

Jenny Davidson: And I remind them I started college in my late 30s.

Like- Yeah ... 100% of [00:33:00] them have more education than I had at their age. And I tell them constantly, like, "You can do more than I've done so far. You see what I'm doing. I started college in my late 30s. You're all in your 20s. You can do more." And so they're all like, "Really?" You know? Like, "Yeah, absolutely. I believe in you.

And I wasn't as creative as you are, and I wasn't as, you know, motivated maybe in some ways or whatever. Like, you're gonna do amazing things, and I'm just, like, I'm just here to 

Jeff Holden: watch it." Well, you didn't have the threat of losing your residence- 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah ... 

Jeff Holden: if you didn't go to school. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, that's true too. That's true.

Jeff Holden: So there's, there's a motivation right there. There is a 

Jenny Davidson: motivation, 

Jeff Holden: yeah. And, and you said something in, in the, the comments there, "I believe in you." How many times have those kids heard that? 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Probably. 

Jenny Davidson: Probably Some have some, 

Jeff Holden: none 

Jenny Davidson: Hopefully a little bit, like probably- We hope, yes ... a lot are none, or maybe they've heard a little, but they've heard more people say they're never gonna amount to anything or they're gonna be- Right

just like mom or just like dad or just like whoever abused them. And they've, they've been told some really terrible lies about themselves. And [00:34:00] so it's just up to us to kind of show them the truth. 

Jeff Holden: You, so there's, there's four units that you've got today. The next question in the conversation is, is a fun one.

And, and it's, I, I almost wanted to answer some of it for you earlier- ... but I, because I've seen it. If money wasn't an object- 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah ... 

Jeff Holden: what would it look like? 

Jenny Davidson: I think I would want a second complex in Sacramento that... So ours is pretty, it's an older complex, and it's not very ADA accessible. Like, we've made, you know, it's possible for a couple to be ADA, but, like, if we had more than four students at a time who needed that, that might be an issue.

So- Mm ... that would potentially be something I'd want. But I would really love either for us to kinda copy/paste and put this in other cities that have multiple, like, trade schools, community colleges, and universities all available. That's kind of the secret sauce that I think makes it really work in Sacramento where it wouldn't work in a rural area because you don't have as many opportunities.

Jeff Holden: Opportunities, yeah. 

Jenny Davidson: But, [00:35:00] um, I would love that. But, like, if there's somebody who's, you know, they're in Texas right now, and I'm not ready to put one in Texas right now, and they call me up, and they're like, "Can you just tell me how you did it?" I will give you access to every form we've ever created. Like, my thought is we need to help these youth.

It doesn't have to be me. But I have offered. LA County wants it. Tehama County wants it. I brought up Texas because somebody did, did tell me in Texas that they want it, somebody in Wisconsin, and I said, "I'll give you all the information." I'm not, I don't have the bandwidth today to make it happen in other places, but I think once we're fully funded here by grants and donors and stuff, then not needing to use our board president so much.

Wouldn't 

Jeff Holden: lean heavily on an individual. Lean, 

Jenny Davidson: yeah I'm just one person. But 

Jeff Holden: thank God for him. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank, yeah, absolutely. So then I think, you know, we would probably look to, like, how can we replicate this in more places and make sure that we're helping more young people. We've had people, we just had a couple people move up from Southern California just because they heard about Academy Stay, and they wanted to go to Sac State, and [00:36:00] they knew that there was the possibility to have housing here.

So it's fabulous. 

Jeff Holden: So how, how do the students find out about you? How do they know you exist? 

Jenny Davidson: Some of it is word of mouth. They all kinda know each other locally and tell each other. A lot of it is through the colleges and universities. LA specifically already knows about us. I think they're telling some of their youth about us.

A lot comes from CPS. There are independent living programs in different communities who know about us and refer over. All the local, like, shelters know that we help foster youth, and so, like, if they get a homeless youth who happens to be former foster, then they might refer some to us. So Honestly, it's, a lot of it is word of mouth.

Like, we have reunited, I wanna say four sibling groups- Hmm ... who one of 'em moves in, and then their sibling moves in later. A couple of them were foster siblings, and a couple were bio siblings. So th- every time that happens, like, that's, that's like the- Yeah ... rosemary again, right? Yep. Like, it's a beautiful, beautiful thing that [00:37:00] they're finding each other again.

Jeff Holden: And I love, for the benefit of those us- who are just listening, I'm looking at Jenny. Her face lights up. Her smile is huge- ... and she's just talking about these, these student collaborations where they realize things they didn't think could possibly ever happen. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And here they are happening. I'm thinking even that's too small.

I'm thinking we should just eradicate the whole problem in Sacramento. We need 180... No, we need 90 units 'cause it's two people- Yeah ... per. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And it's probably times four so that we can sequence the entire- Yeah ... you know, academic- Exactly ... four years of school. And we're- it's done. It's fixed. There you go.

Jenny Davidson: Then Sacramento is- We've burned- ... on 

Jeff Holden: its way ... so much money on so many other things- Yeah ... that haven't come close that are a thousand times more expensive. 

Jenny Davidson: And the homeless problem goes away by 25% overnight. That's 

Jeff Holden: right. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: That's right. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. This, this- 

Jenny Davidson: And there's dignity, right? That's the thing.

Like, they... It doesn't feel, you know, like you're living in, you know, this place that was like a shack [00:38:00] and it somehow got made over, and we found a couch on a corner somewhere that we brought in- Right ... for you, right? Like, i- it's beautiful. Everybody should just right now go to academystay.org, look at...

There's a 360 view. 

Jeff Holden: As if you were shopping for a- an apartment- Yeah ... and/or a house. It... I s- I saw it. I loved it. It's just- Yeah ... exactly the same. And- 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. And they're all... And every unit's the same, so that unit l- is exactly what all the other ones look like. They all get to spend $100 on art when they move in so it feels like their room.

We want it to not feel like, like an institutional place. They can't make it feel like their own. They get to pick out their own bedding. They get to pick out their own towels because we want them to have things that feel like theirs, right? And they get to take that stuff when they go as well, so it's not an expectation that, you know, like, "Oh, get the bedding of your dreams-" And then now let's start over again

and you'll never see it again." Right. Yeah, start over again, right? So the, all of those items they get to keep. 

Jeff Holden: That's awesome. Back to reality. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: What is the greatest need today? 

Jenny Davidson: Greatest need today, well, you know, funding. I [00:39:00] think every nonprofit, we're either lying or we're bringing up funding, right? Like, it's for everybody.

Funding is individual donors, monthly donors, super helpful. If somebody knows of, like, great grants that, grant programs that are out there, you know, let us know. And then in addition to that, we have all these life skills, right? So people who wanna come in and volunteer and teach those things. Somebody who really loves gardening, they don't have room to garden at home, like, come out and volunteer in our garden 'cause that's a huge need.

Like, I, I have a black thumb. I always say- ... if there was, like, a child protective services for plants, like I- You'd 

Jeff Holden: be in, in, in their jail, 

Jenny Davidson: right? I, I would be. I would be. And so, like, people who can come in and, like, know the difference between kale and a weed, that kinda thing. Or one thing, I was so shocked by this, and I don't know why I was shocked, it was just another layer of impact, is that these young people, most of them, nobody has ever shown them how to drive.

And who would, right? If, if you were in foster care [00:40:00] and, and then you're unhoused or you're sleeping on couches somewhere Where would you have learned how to drive? Who would've let you use their car? Right. Who over this age is there to, you know, be the passenger while you're learning? So people who want to teach young people how to drive, and you know, I can't do it.

My, I taught my kids how to drive. They all, they all tell you, like, that was the worst thing that's ever happened to them. Like, I would be screaming instead of saying like, "Slow down," I'd be like, "Ah, we're all gonna die." So somebody else needs to do that one. Right. Right. That is not my skillset. Different kinds of mentors, just somebody like you, like if you've been a CASA before, and we have a, do have a super close partnership with Sacramento CASA.

They're fabulous. 

Jeff Holden: And- And we, we have had CASAs on, Court Appointed Special Advocates. Uh, there's a wonderful episode. 

Jenny Davidson: Oh. 

Jeff Holden: If you don't know what it is, it is a phenomenal program to support youth through the legal process- 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly ... 

Jeff Holden: of emancipation. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. And our youth who, who are at Academy Stay who [00:41:00] had a CASA when they were younger Are monumentally doing better than the ones who did not have a CASA when they were younger.

Like, it's night and day. You can tell the difference. 

Jeff Holden: I'm glad you said that because I th- I don't, don't think people really realize the significance of what that means to have that caring, considerate person in your life at that point in time. Exactly. Because it's necessary. 

Jenny Davidson: Especially the youth who had to move from home to home.

The CASA might follow them. They may, they might never 

Jeff Holden: see the other people. Maybe the only thing that follows them. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. 

Jeff Holden: Yes, there's some continuity to- 

Jenny Davidson: Mm ... 

Jeff Holden: this disruption that these, these kids- 

Jenny Davidson: Several of our youths still meet with their CASA. Awesome. And they're in their 20s, and they still, their CASA will still come pick 'em up and take them out to do something.

So yeah, so like, very few of our, the, the, all that to say, like driving lessons, huge. Anything, like whatever somebody's really interested in, there's probably somebody at Academy Say who would benefit from that, right? Like crocheting or dance or musicals or whatever you're interested in, we have a youth [00:42:00] who's very curious about that.

We have a youth right now who's learning about Salesforce, right? So like, there's gotta be somebody out there who's like, "Oh, Salesforce is my jam. Like, I wanna meet this person." Right. Or, um, s- those th- those kinds of things, always a huge need. And, and then we have our clothing closet. So it's not huge. It's about the size of this room, right?

So I don't want everybody who's listening to this to pull up I was about to say it's about 

Jeff Holden: 10 by 14. So if anybody's... 

Jenny Davidson: Don't, don't drive up with 14 bags of clothes in your car, but you know, interview clothes or things like that that help them to feel more confident, like they're gonna do a presentation at school or...

So we do have that, or we have a food closet, but you know, little donations like that. Mm. And we have a, on our website, we have an Amazon wishlist. So those are almost all specifically from our students. They've said like, "I want a box fan," or, "I want..." Some of them, 'cause we give them everything they need day one, but we don't resupply, so there's things like toilet paper.

Honestly, toilet paper's one [00:43:00] of the biggest requests that we get. So I honestly, I get on there all the time and buy toilet paper 'cause I just hate the fact that they're, you know, rationing. 

Jeff Holden: To think that I've gotta worry about my toilet paper, right? Yeah. Like, is that the thing? What is this, the pandemic 

Jenny Davidson: again?

I know, right? I said that. I actually said that. Yeah. So that kinda thing, or laundry soap or... They're not asking, every now and then they're asking for a want because everybody has wants, right? Like we tell 'em, "Put that on there." But they're, a lot of times are asking for their needs. And so, you know, we're still providing it for everybody on their first day, but it's not something that as a nonprofit we can continue to do for two years for every single person.

Jeff Holden: So then they would just, on their own, 'cause they probably have part-time jobs or something- Right ... they, it's their responsibility. The little things. There's stuff that they have to take care of too. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Which, which is good because- It's good ... they're learning the responsibility of that. Exactly. You know, managing their money.

Jenny Davidson: And prioritizing, right? Like, do you really want that bottle of alcohol that's extremely expensive or a carton of cigarettes or- Right ... do you want laundry soap and toothpaste and bath gel, right? Like 

Jeff Holden: [00:44:00] Right. Right. Well, good. I'm figuring, probably figure that one out pretty quickly. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Jeff Holden: Especially with all the mentoring they have around them. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: So the, the next question, you've, you've done a wonderful job of sharing some of what those successes look like, I mean, the, the, the graduates- Mm-hmm ... the rosemary- 

Jenny Davidson: Mm-hmm ... 

Jeff Holden: the, the sharing the consideration. Let's step back a minute to go a bit beyond the mission.

This is where we talk about you a little bit. 

Jenny Davidson: Okay. 

Jeff Holden: And, you know, we got your front side as, as what got you interested into this organization and how you came to be with Academy Stay, but let's learn a little bit more about Jenny Davidson and just some of the things that she's about- Okay ... when, when you're not- When I'm not there

at Academy Stay. Okay. Which is hard 'cause I, it's, it's all-encompassing. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: You know, it's there. It's all the time. Exactly. You go to the grocery store, you go, "Oh, I could-" It's my other 

Jenny Davidson: baby. 

Jeff Holden: I, right. I could probably, oh, I could probably use this at the- 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly ... 

Jeff Holden: you know, at the complex or whatever. Yeah. So favorite color?

Jenny Davidson: This is hilarious. Everybody asks me that. I don't have a favorite color. I'm the only person that has [00:45:00] ever, I've ever heard answer that with that. I don't. I love, you know, is it a car? Is it a house? Is it a shirt? Like, it's, I like every color. I, it's the whole rainbow for me. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. And, and today you're wearing- Today I'm wearing purple

Jenny Davidson: predominantly purple. Yep, yep, yep. 

Jeff Holden: The Kings would appreciate that. 

Jenny Davidson: They would. My husband is a very Kings fan, so And 

Jeff Holden: so is my son. Diehard. 

Jenny Davidson: Yep. 

Jeff Holden: Beach, mountains, city, or a road trip? 

Jenny Davidson: Anything with water, so beach. Mountains if it's a lake, right? So yeah, water. A 

Jeff Holden: road trip going to the ocean. 

Jenny Davidson: There you go. 

Jeff Holden: Okay.

What's one local place you wish more people knew about? 

Jenny Davidson: Gosh, that's a good question. 

Jeff Holden: Could be like a restaurant. Could be a, a, you know, a getaway like a bike trail. I love the bike trail. You know, that kind of thing. Yeah, 

Jenny Davidson: yeah. I think I'm very into musicals. I think a lot of people do know, know about Broadway Sacramento, but they don't realize the caliber of the shows that are there.

I've been to Broadway, love watching shows at Broadway in New York. The ones in Sacramento are just as good, and I've had people go, "Oh, you saw [00:46:00] that on Broadway?" Yeah, and I saw it in Sacramento too, and it's exactly the same. Like, the, the level of access that pe- local people have to be able to see stuff like that is, I think, more than they, than they understand.

Jeff Holden: Music Circus is gonna love you for that one. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah. Love them too, yep. I talk to people all the time who say, "Oh, I dream of going to Br- to New York and seeing Broadway shows someday." That, that like you've arrived, you've like lived my bucket list. I'm like, "It's here too. Like, it's just as good." 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Yeah. If you, if you haven't, then- 

Jenny Davidson: Please come

Jeff Holden: see it. 

Jenny Davidson: Yeah, enjoy. 

Jeff Holden: Guilty pleasure. 

Jenny Davidson: Guilty pleasure. I think TV shows that have, that don't require any intelligence whatsoever, just like goofy, silly. You know, I love like Ted Lasso. Okay. Like, just watching it. I'm not learning. I'm not watching a documentary. You know, I'm not one of these people who put my TV in the attic and pursues like high-level kind of hobbies.

Jeff Holden: You're truly escaping. Yeah. I'm just staring at the screen and being entertained. 

Jenny Davidson: Just, just entertainment, [00:47:00] just silliness, h- lighthearted. I'm not making a decision right now. You know, I'm... Nothing I do is gonna impact a life. I can just- Right ... chill and watch TV, yeah. 

Jeff Holden: How about a small win that always makes your day?

Jenny Davidson: I think, honestly, when one of our students just says hi to me. Perfect. Like, that is huge to me. Yep. They say, "Hi, Jenny." I'm like... I, it just, it, yeah, love that. 

Jeff Holden: That's great. What's one word your team would use to describe you? 

Jenny Davidson: I think probably empathetic. 

Jeff Holden: One chapter of your life that explains a lot about who you are?

Jenny Davidson: The loss of my son. 

Jeff Holden: Yes. And then what would your friends say you're best known for? 

Jenny Davidson: Probably I have a very unique laugh. I have a... Yeah, like, if I'm in the grocery store, they could be across the grocery store- That's Jenny ... and they'll say, "I know Jenny's here." I 

Jeff Holden: love that. That, that's fun. Yeah. 'Cause it's distinctive.

Yeah. And, and it is. I, I... But it makes other people laugh, too, which is c- It, it's just that expression. Yeah. It's, it's [00:48:00] so nice. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank you. 

Jeff Holden: How can the community support you best? If they're interest- learning more about Academy Stay or if they're interested in, in contributing- Yeah ... what's the best way? 

Jenny Davidson: Go to our website is big.

That's where we have our wish list or where you could sign up to be a donor. You can read about our program. You can tell others about our program. You can sign up to get the newsletter or to be a volunteer. You can see what the units look like. Tell young people out in the, in public when you see them and their former foster, like, tell them that there's hope and there's dignity and there's a place where they can call home.

Jeff Holden: And that's Academ- academystay.org, correct? Mm-hmm. We'll put that in the show notes, too, so it's easy for access just to click through. Jenny, what you've created and what you and your team are doing is a, an, an unbelievably exemplary model of how communities should be supporting our foster youth, and you're gonna change that 4% graduation rate, for sure.

Jenny Davidson: Absolutely. 

Jeff Holden: You, you, you can't not. 

Jenny Davidson: Exactly. 

Jeff Holden: And the way that it's being [00:49:00] accomplished, as we spoke a little bit earlier, the ability to diminish to some degree the homelessness situation in any given market that this- Mm-hmm ... model fits and works is something we've been trying to do for so long unsuccessfully.

And here you are now in your second year, 14 graduates, and it's gonna just compound. It's just gonna keep going and growing as you continue to go and grow. So for that, thank you so much. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank you. 

Jeff Holden: It really is... It, it's amazing. 

Jenny Davidson: Thank you. I appreciate that. 

Jeff Holden: Well, let's go make something better. 

Jenny Davidson: Let's do it.

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