Interview with Cesar Navarette

This month's focus will be an interview with Cesar Navarette, the President and CEO of the Childrens Fund. 

www.childrensfund.org

Transcript

Don  00:06

Hello, my name is Don English, Director of Children Deserve Success and Executive Director of the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. I want to welcome you to our Children Deserve Success Podcast. Once a month, we will be sending out these recordings regarding all things related to child welfare and attendance, school attendance Review Board, foster youth services, McKinney Vento Homeless Programs in our county and the San Bernardino County Wide Gangs and Drugs Task Force. This month's focus will be an interview with Cesar Navarette, the President and CEO of the Childrens Fund. Cesar, So glad you're here fired up ready to go. I look forward tovarette our interview.

Cesar  00:49

And I'm excited. Thank you for having me here. And let's do this.

Don  00:52

All right. So if you would introduce yourself and tell us about your organization.

Cesar  00:56

Sure. My name is Cesar, and I am the president and CEO of Children's Fund. Now just one is a very unique nonprofit we've been around since 1986. In the best way for me describe it is looking at it three different pillars, right. So we have support, opportunity, and hope this is what we based our programs that have. So if we break down our support programs, our goal is to make sure that our kids experiencing crisis, alleviate those concerns and those challenges because we know that our kids going through crisis, the last thing on their mind is education, right? Because they got so much to worry about so many concerns, they don't know where they're gonna sleep at night, they're know what they're going to eat. And there are always challenges and so will we base our support problems are our basic needs. And so through our through our support programs, how we meet our kids basic needs, and that whether they are in transition or are reunified with their parents, or being displaced because they're homeless or bouncing around from couch to couch, garage, or garage, or wherever the case may be. So we know that our kids we supply our kids who are in need with, with beds, brand new beds, with bedding, with clothes, with food. With any furniture that we need, or a family, we need a refrigerator. So we provide the family with the refrigerator, rental assistance, utility assistance. So anything the family needs to stabilize is what we come in and provide support for and this is for all our kids throughout the county. So we work with caseworkers, social workers, over 50 nonprofits, who submit the referrals, they're already receiving the case manager, they're receiving their day to day support, whether it's counseling or any kind of support, you can think but they need that extra additional help. And that's where students one comes in, where we come in and provide those basic needs. So those are support programs. And then you look at opportunity problems, right? So and they go online, once our kids are out of crisis, now they start looking at their future start thinking about, you know, what can I do now? Right, I don't have to worry about food, I have somewhere to lay my head, I'm good. So our opportunity programs are unique in the sense where we provide scholarships for our kids, not just post secondary education scholarships, but also recreational scholarships. So what does that mean, right. So even though there's a lot of great programs on the community, for our kids to get involved in programs, whether it's peewee football, whether it's its little league, whether it's their local dance club or art class, in their local community center, right, there's always fees associated to these problems, right. And some, some, our programs are great, and they have made some adjustments and have allowed kids to do some fundraising, right? So they tell a kid, here, here's a box of chocolate, you know, here's some scripts come out to help us for a car wash. And that's fine. But if you look at the kids that really need this kind of experience, they can go to their mom, they can cook today, they can go to their neighbor, they can go to their aunt, uncle, grandma, anybody in their network, because they're networkers worried about making ends meet, right? How are they going to be able to support their, their, their, you know, this, this experience, right, that they want to get involved with. And so right away to them, that's a barrier. So we help break that barrier. And it reminds me of being a kid, right? I always wanted to play baseball, literally, my friends were playing, but I couldn't write. And when I showed up for practice, I said, Okay, here's the loaner equipment, you can use your loaner equipment, here's laundry glove. Now listen, I don't want to be the kid with the loaner sweats and the loaner cleats. And so to me, that was a barrier, right? And so that's what I'm looking to help our kids break down those barriers, because we know, the more kids can experience, the more doors open up the better opportunities they have, they start to visualize and have dreams, right? Well, I can do this for a living or this. This really helped me, you know, build my character. Obviously, when they grow up, they'll think that way, right? But think about all the things that you've learned in a team sport, right? You learn how to win, you learn how to lose, you learn how to listen to authority, you learn how to work together as a group, and if you don't have experiences, you're gonna go that life thinking that it's just a one man show that it's just all you and we know that's not true. We need as much help as we can get. And so those are the focus for opportunity programs, right. And then we have our post secondary education scholarships, and that's for kids. We know that our kids who have really overcome adversity, they may not have the academic record to qualify for an academic scholarship, right? It doesn't mean they're their best students. It just means they had a little bit over time, right? And so we do is we feel fill that gap for those kids that we know are resilient, those kids that we know are going to succeed, because they already succeeded so much, right. And so our scholarship is based on on their circumstances in life, where they've been homeless, where they've been in foster care, whether they've been, you know, part of abuse or neglect, where they suffered any of the situations of poverty, abuse or neglect, right there, they're a perfect candidate, because we're looking to invest in our kids. And then we work very closely with our trditional family services program, our probation program, supporting their independent living programs, the sports fair, just other opportunities that our kids may not have. So that's what we consider opportunity programs. And then we have our hope programs. And so the way we define our hope programs is, is making sure that all of our kids, you know, for that, just that one day, they get inspired, right. And so during the holidays, we have a huge celebration game program where, again, we work with with hundreds of nonprofits throughout the county, and we are able to get toys from different providers from warehouses from corporate partners, and we distribute distribute over 50,000 toys throughout the county. Right. And so for that one day, we know that that kid, that child is going to receive a toy. So it reminds me of me when I was young, standing online, just waiting, right waiting to surprise, back then they used to be wrapped. So you'd never knew now just for safety reasons, we make sure the kids that we have some wrap, but just seeing the smile on their kids makes a huge difference. Aside from from the holidays, spreading cheer across the county with over 5000 gifts. We also do birthday gifts, right? For a lot of kids in foster care. Again, it's letting them know that there is somebody out there who cares that they may not have a direct contact or link with those individuals. But there's people out there that care for them. And the goal is that they start to see all these little gifts, all these little moments in time, that they're whether it's their teacher, their caseworker, their probation officer, and start to see those little things that people are doing for them that they may not have otherwise seen that gave them hope, right, that gives them trusting and confide in others. So there's the birthday celebration program, there's the Christmas program, there's the adoption ceremony program. Again, Children's Fund is there as partnering, usually a silent partner as much as possible, but partner there to make sure that our kids walk away with some sort of gifts, some sort of tangible item, they can walk away that brings a smile to their face. And then recently, we have our brand new program, which is a homeless program. And so we partner with a lot of homeless providers already. And we know that some of the challenges that they face is that because they receive federal money, grant money, their hands are tied, and there's only certain things they could spend the money on. And so they have maybe about Hotel Motel vouchers for seven, seven days or 14 days. And then after that what happens, right? They have to keep reapplying, sometimes that happens, sometimes it doesn't. And so through our foundation money and our private foundation money, we're able to invest our families and make sure that they don't go back on the streets. And so our program focuses on on families living in their vehicles. We know there's a lot of families out there that have been struggling. And they've had been forced to be in their vehicles, right? With the young ones with little kids, and they're still trying to go to school. So trying to make it happen. But it's challenging. And so we know that just a little help, will really help them get set up. And so a lot of times our families that are living in cars do have jobs. But guess what, they don't have the first month's rent down, they don't have the security deposit. And so we come in and provide that for them knowing that they already have a job in place that can help them along the way. So a lot of our families just need that extra little support, just to be able to stabilize and again, all this we do for our kids throughout the county. We know if we help stabilize the family, then the kids are better off?

Don  08:41

Absolutely. I'll tell you, you answered about five of my question. But I do want to go back to one of the things that you talked about, and that is the collaboration piece. And you mentioned so many partners, that Children Fund including San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools, which were very, very, very pleased to be your partner. Before coming to children from you were the executive director of Casa of San Bernardino. What interests interested you in this line of work serving youth? And is there firsthand knowledge or personal experience that brought you to the nonprofit sector?

Cesar  09:20

And there is so now we're gonna get personal right? There is so growing up. I was never in foster care, but I was one of those kids that went undetected. I had the bruises. I had the bumps, I had clothes that didn't fit, right. I smelled I had bad hygiene. And that's because I came from a household that was very abusive. My father was an alcoholic, a drug addict. And every weekend, you know it was starting Friday night, all the way to Sunday morning. It was how many beers Can I check? How many beers Can I drink? Right? And so that's no different than than any of our families or any of our kids out there struggling and again, looking back at it, it made me who I Today, right? So I wouldn't change a thing, but I wouldn't wish that experience on anybody else. And so I see it as my role to help out those kids to let them know that there is a way that there is possibilities. And it's breaking the cycle. Right. And that's part of children's fund's mission is how do we break the cycle of violence of abuse of poverty, I'm going to start with just having supported the community. So looking back at it, I know my father, his goal was to do better than his dad. And in his eyes, he definitely did. My grandpa was never around. He never really was a father figure to my dad. So my dad broke that cycle. Because yeah, he was around, maybe not the best father figure. But he did provide No, he did go to work, he did provide a roof over our head. We do have food, but we had our challenges, right, we had our bumps, we had our bruises we hate we didn't have a good life. But in his eyes, he was he did better than his dad. And now it's my responsibility for my kids to do better than him. And that's my goal. And then my kids are gonna do better than me. And slowly we'll start breaking the cycle, right. So looking back at my life and my childhood, I didn't realize that nonprofits played a huge part of my decisions, in my opinion, who were was really there. I made a reference earlier that I remember standing in line or we're standing in line, getting a box of food, right? Every single week, I remember saying line, getting clothes getting fitted by by, you know, older ladies in somebody's home, and walking out with three pairs of pants, some underwear, some socks and shoes. I remember seeing the dentist for the first time getting my eyeglasses for the first time. And it was all through and through nonprofits. And my mom was the one that was taking us out, actually, without my dad, knowing that my mom was knew that there are resources out there. And so I think nonprofits play a critical role. Even how we partner with schools, right, because my mom heard about all these nonprofits through the schools, they would hand out flyers and make announcements. And so she would take us, there'll be field trips, but bus would pick us up and take us. So we was put on by the school. And so obviously, that's how important schools are to supporting our kids, because they're the frontline, they see what's going on day in and day out. And they know that they can really help the kids but they need to find partners. And so that's where nonprofits come in. Right? That's where you can come in help fill those gaps to support those families. And so that's that, I mean, going through those stages in my life, and, and, and I knew I wanted to make a difference, right, I knew I wanted to make an impact, I just didn't know how. And so growing up, funny story. Because of, well, maybe not so funny, but because that'd be something like I had an older sister, and her way out of this situation was to go to college. So that set up the roadmap for me. She actually made it to college on a softball scholarship. And was excited nice to visit her at UC Santa Barbara. And so that opened my doors and say this is possible My sister did it so I can do and again. If you don't see this, you'd never think it's possible. Right? And so before that, I didn't know what's gonna happen, right? I thought I was gonna stay in the gang that I was gonna, you know, just run the streets and see what happened ended up like my dad. My sister opened up she broke that barrier and opened up my eyes. And so then in my head, being naive. I'm thinking I'm gonna go to college. But I had the wrong purpose in mind. I wanted to go to college to really find out how is it that my dad kept getting out of jail? I mean, this guy was it was in there for attempted murder he's to shoot up our neighbors he's he's committed arson, I mean, just all kinds of imagine I remember being home and getting dragged out by by SWAT because he was holed up in the garage. And he's then SWAT came out and pulled us out when I was in high school. So I remember this very vividly pull us all out on the floor. And there was a standoff, right? So all these crazy stories. In my head, I'm wondering, how does this guy always get out? Right. So let me go to school. Let me get my degree in criminal justice and figure out what's the loophole so I can close it, right. So that was my, my, my reason for going to college. And then in college, I needed a job, right. And so I started, I applied to be a math tutor for Avid, and I became an avid tutor. And then that's when when I learned about avid in a salary structure. And because I was in college coming in, the teacher asked me to do a presentation to the class. I'm like, Okay, I'll do a presentation. And so the way I did my presentation is the way I showed my emotions was through art. So I like to paint and draw. So I brought over some of my drawings and my paintings. And I talked about them. And then after the class, two little kids came up two little boys, right? They came up to me and they had questions. They're asking me about where my family is. Now, how did I get to college? And it made me realize the power of being able to motivate a young mind, right? Being able to help somebody else because I remember being in that kid shoes and having those same questions. And that's what then started moving or pushing me in the direction that I'm in now. which is find a way to help out the next generation of kids. Because those kids lit up. They were asking me questions. And again, if they don't see it, they'll never imagine it. So they started seeing themselves in me, right that I could do that I can go to college, I can become an avid tutor, I can come back and help the next generation. And so that's, that's what started pushing me. You know, I never gave another thought about my dad had to forgive him for he didn't know that, that he did a better job. And his dad was my responsibility to be better than him. So overcame that baggage. And now my goal was helping the next generation. And so then I actually did an internship with probation thinking maybe probation is the way to go, right? And I was like, Nah, I need to get to them beforehand. Because right now, it's already challenging as it is in it like how things were going. And so, so I started looking at school programs and community centers and did some volunteer work there and really fell in love with that. graduated college, got my first job as a community center support for after school program. Really love that. Out in meat Valley, so if anybody's familiar with with Riverside County, County area, I was working at the Meed Valley Community Center. And is there a rural? I'll tell you a funny story. So when I came off the freeway from my job interview, I look to my right, to my left, nothing but empty fields. And it's during summer. And then far off into the distance, I see a little boy with a bunch of goats. And he was hurting goats, right. And I kept thinking myself, Where am I? You know, I've never seen this before. Did I take a wrong turn, you know, out there in the wilderness out of Mexico? Or where am i right? Where do you see this picture. And so then I got to see the community, right. Obviously, a lot better now a lot of investment, that community but when I got there, you know, didn't have a library didn't have Park, they had a community center that was rundown, didn't have a lot of paved roads. And so I became now they hired me on I became the this is already when I was 20, about 20 years old. They hired me on as their program coordinator for after school programs. And nonprofit, they gave me a lot of opportunities. I moved my way up slowly, because they allowed me to really grow. And because I had that, that learned experience for life experience, I modeled a lot of the programs that I tried to implement designed based on my experience, what I liked what I didn't like, right. And so So after a couple years, I got moved up to be the center manager, then became the center director than, you know that the call from from the big building right to go to big office in the corner and became a director of a whole department running four community centers, to Senior Centers, one of their mental health clinics. So just a huge program. That was a big deal for me, just because the you know, where I came from, and the opportunities I had, I'm like I made it, right. I'm in a big office, after work, nice clothes to go to work. And so behind a desk and work on a computer. I'm like you made it right. And so then I was in a big office, and working on programs and funding for all kinds of programs a little bit more removed from from the families that I really love working with. So then then it really just became a job. And after a while I was like, No, this is not what I liked. And that's not for me, I want to go back to, to what I'm passionate about. And that's been right there with the kids were there with the families, right. And so I spoke to my CEO at the time. And he looking back at it, I don't take it wrong the way we people he told me but he said, If you don't like your job, you're young, you can go anywhere you want, right? And so at that time, I was angry. I was like, so you want me to like You're like me go go find a job. But looking at it. like it, I think it was his way to push me to go find something what I'm passionate about. And so that's where I saw an opportunity working at Casa Court Appointed Special Advocates, right. And I remember right now, it was the I had seen it before I had seen it for like maybe a month that was posted, right? And it said job posting would end, you know, this Friday at 12:59. They would have closed the posting. And there I am setting up my posting or my application. And it was it was like 11:59 11:58, right. And I hit submit. So just in I did purposely write in a hit submit and I got the interview. And I was excited. Because again, I wanted to go back to working one on one with kids. And although I never had experience with foster care, I did have experience with abuse and neglect. And so I thought this is a great opportunity to go back to run a program that I'm very passionate about. And I did I was there for eight years. We did amazing work doubling the size of how many kids we can support. Growing the volunteer base, even received the Bank of America neighborhood builder or builders Award, which is $200,000 over two years. For me that that was the combination you know that they're paying attention to our program, right. And then the opportunity came over at Children's Fund where I had worked as a partner with Children's Fund the past and current sense of collaboration gentle with them. And I know that within my years their Children's Fund had seen about three CEOs go through their doors, right. And I know how challenging that can be. But what appealed to me about Children's Fund is that I can continue to support kids in foster care because they partner with customer, right. But then I can move on to help those kids that were exactly like me, right, those kids that went undetected, and that's what moved me and motivated me to see trial children's for and see how things would go, I knew that it was great organization. But you're always worried, right? You're confident, comfortable. And what you know, when you're talking about big organization, you know, bigger mission, it's scary. And a lot of times, we wonder if you're the right person for the job if you're actually deserving the things that you receive. And so this little chip on my shoulder that I continue to have, just to remind myself that I gotta fight for everything that I want, right. And here I am today, I think now a little over a year, in over Children's Fund, we've done some amazing things. And it's an additional program, again, modeled by my life experience, I'm hoping to continue to do more and open up more doors for kids. Because if it wasn't for nonprofits and schools and teachers, I wouldn't be where I am today, right? Looking back at it, I see, you know, all those teachers that kind of helped guide me and pull me in and have conversation. And I see all nonprofits, all volunteers, the workers of nonprofits, against smiling, trying to encourage me, and really, it's because of them, that I'm here today, right, trying to give back. And that's the story that a lot of our kids have, right? If they don't have somebody in their life, that can help motivate them help guide them. They're never gonna get anywhere, right? And we'll never see, you know, the fruits of those labor, right? We can only hope and imagine that we plant the seed that, you know, 10-15 years from now, the kid's gonna light up, they can remember they can see and that that's going to change their path. And we'll never see. I mean, we'll be fortunate if we see it. But that's not what we're doing it for. Right? We're doing it just to  make sure that somebody gives our kids the time of day. 

Don  22:07

Yeah, one caring adult. And other thing. I'm glad you overcame this impostor syndrome, because you have no reason to have impostor syndrome.

Cesar  22:14

Now, don't think I overcame that.

Don  22:15

I'm speaking to existance, that's what I'm doing right now. You know, and you know, you give every year 1000s of dollars in scholarships. You kind of alluded that to that before. And you talked about the importance of that, you know, in your own personal life. But why is it important to the organization,

Cesar  22:37

For us is a good investment our kids, right, knowing that our kids can succeed that they need additional support. And so I think it's our responsibility to set our kids up for success. So that comes with all the partnerships that comes with breaking all those barriers. And money is a huge barrier, right? Our kids already look at college expensive, and yeah, maybe the glitter grant, maybe they'll get a scholarship, but it doesn't meet all their needs. Right. And so our scholarships are for those those other essentials, right? Because when I went to a dorm, I didn't have my sandals, right? I didn't have my toothbrush. I didn't have my blankets, I didn't have my pillow. I didn't have the things that I needed just to give us that all I had was a bed that didn't have any, any sheets or covers. I'm like, that's fine. I'll live with that. Unfortunately. My roommates, parents, they went ahead and got me some some items. But I wasn't prepared because I didn't know what that was like a lot of kids have no idea what it's like to go to college, or what to expect. Right. But you gotta have your your shower caddy. Right? What's that? What's a shower caddy? Right? Yeah.

Don  23:31

I'll tell you, you have one of your board members is Dr. Sarah Gomez. And she was a scholarship, former scholarship recipient. And what message is conveyed by your organization to include her in a leadership capacity?

Cesar  23:46

I think we're looking at a lot of our board members, right. And so we have quite a few board members that had that live experience. Maybe they share it, maybe they don't. But the beauty of that is that they're helping direct the future of children and how we decide to do programming, right? Putting kids first putting them in mind first, and how can we really can break those barriers down. So who better than somebody who who's had that experience to help us continue to break those barriers down because it's a challenge. And so what we faced years ago may not be the current situation right now. And so we're always looking for individuals that can really help us to either be a part of the board, or to be on one of our committees with that new lens that new visuals of what our kids are facing with nowadays.

Don  24:31

On a different note, how large is your family?

Cesar  24:33

My family? You're laughing because you so so I have seven kids and one on the way. We're going to be eight in March. eight kids,

Don  24:45

what a blessing. You know, I had to throw that one in there. Yeah, I had to do that. How can someone support Children's Fund? And what final thought? Do you need us to know when serving the most vulnerable children of our community?

Cesar  24:59

Well, before I tell you how you can support Childrens Fund, what I urge all our listeners and to share with the community is that there are several nonprofits out there, right? We all have a mission. And so I urge and encourage all our listeners to seek the nonprofit that that, you know, they're touched with, right, that really meets their mission, whether it's working with families, or the homeless, or those families that have been battered or abused, or animals, right. Or ending hunger, whatever it is that that touches you and you're passionate about connect with that nonprofit. Because every nonprofit is there for a reason, there, there's fill the gap to fill the need. So I urge listeners to go out there and do the homework, right? Find the nonprofit that they're passionate about, and find a way to volunteer support them. And so with Children's Fund, our mission is large. Our goal is really to support our kids through our three pillars, right. And so you can visit our website, we have volunteer opportunities, we also have, like any nonprofit organization, we're in need of funds, right? In order to grow in order to serve more kids. We need the support and the portion of our community to invest in us so that we can invest in our kids. So they can become recurring donors, they can come at some of our fundraising events. So if you just visit www.childrensfund.org you'll see the different opportunities that are available, you'll get to know more about our programs, sign up for our newsletter, receive update on just be involved and educated individual in your community, to learn how you can make a difference because everybody can make a difference. Volunteering goes a long way, if you don't have the financial means than you, I'm sure you have the time, right? Commit a couple hours here and there, to your local nonprofit to Children's Fund to find a way to help them.

Don  26:49

And again, that's www.childrensfund.org. 

Cesar  26:53

That's correct. 

Don  26:54

Cesar Navarrete, thank you so much for being here today. And for the wonderful work you do. You know, you are very passionate, you know, people talk about hard work. And so that's obvious to me, to my team, to this county office of education. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here today. Really appreciate it.

Cesar  27:13

Well, thank you for having me.

Don  27:15

Thank you for listening. We hope you find this information valuable. If you have any topics or questions that you would like addressed, please email them directly to CWA. SBC s s dotnet. As always, we hope you stay well and continue to transform lives through education.