Zona Seca was proud to announce that Mr. Babatunde Folayemi had graciously accepted the position of Director of the Pro-Youth Coalition. Having a community friend like Babatunde on board has already proven to be a great advantage for the youth of Santa Barbara.
As a current Resident Services Specialist with the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara, a position he has been holding since 1992, Babatunde Folayemi designs and implements programs for H.A. resident youth and their families, provides counseling for youth and family, acts as school liaison to three Santa Barbara high schools for resident youth, develops training for low-income families, and coordinates the Family Self Sufficiency Program. Babatunde has also successfully written and been awarded federal grants in excess of $2 million for youth programs in Santa Barbara.
Mr. Folayemi was the Director of Youth Programs for the Alliance for Community Development (A.C.D.) from 1990 to 1992. He designed and implemented educational, cultural, recreational and job training programs for at-risk youth; provided counseling for youth appointed by the courts; and developed the most successful youth work-training program in Santa Barbara, now entering its fifth year of funding: "The Crossroads Painters' Program." During this period, Babatunde successfully wrote and was awarded grants totaling more than $200,000 for youth programs.
Earlier, Babatunde had been the Program Director for the Westminster Neighborhood Center, where again he worked actively in the design and implementation of programs for at-risk youth. Laboring with more than 200 gang members in educational, cultural, recreational and job-training programs, Babatunde Folayemi was active in the original Watts Gang Task Force, and was instrumental in bringing about a truce between the Crips and Bloods gangs in South Central Los Angeles. He received the Community Service Award from Mayor Tom Bradley for this vital contribution to the city's life and future; a feature story in the Los Angeles Times profiled the event.
Space does not permit a full listing of Mr. Folayemi's excellent history in the business sector, the human resource arena, and the many other areas of creative social endeavor in which he has so highly achieved. For instance, the California State Board of Education recognized him for development of innovative curriculum; the Human Services Association elected him the Distinguished Agency Professional of the Year; and the Multi-cultural Educational Consortium presented him with the Community Service Award.
An internationally acclaimed artist in his own right, Babatunde has used the arts to bolster self-esteem in youth and enlist them in raising community awareness of youth needs and potentials. In this spirit, the Ford Foundation, to mention only one such resource, had funded Babatunde with a grant to study abroad.
Acting as Chairperson of the Santa Barbara City Youth Task Force is only one of the boards and commissions on which Babatunde has served. Others include the Santa Barbara Community Development and Human Services Commission, Santa Barbara Schools District Strategic Planning Task Force, Concerned Citizens for Children, and the Human Services Association.
More important are the many vital programs Babatunde Folayemi has successfully developed to advantage at-risk youth, such as the award-winning "T.R.I.B.E." teen program with Girls, Inc.; the "Street Law" program with Westside Boys and Girls Club and El Puente School; the United Youth Empowered program through Santa Barbara Parks & Recreation; the "Quasars to Sea Stars" program with the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum; the "Greenhouse Project" with UCSB 4-H Youth Programs; and the "Dual Visions" program through the Santa Barbara News-Press, KCTV, Museum of Arts, and H.A.C.S.B.
Babatunde Folayemi, may we all express our gratitude for your unswerving devotion to the cause of young people the world over. Change the life of a child and you change the world for the better. Thank you, Babatunde, for your time and energy in upholding that precious vision for this world's at-risk youth. May the future be bright as you lead the Pro-Youth Coalition of Santa Barbara!