AcademyStay

They drove in from two counties just to see how AcademySTAY works.
Social workers, independent living staff, and county education teams from Yuba and Sutter spent two hours on campus this week, with a group of college-bound young people in tow.
One of our students fielded the questions. Every apartment comes ready to live in, he told them, down to the rice cooker and air fryer.
What they kept coming back to were the life skills classes. Budgeting, especially.
Do you know a young adult who's transitioning from foster care and interested in attending college or trade school who could use a place like this? We take students from across the region. Share this post.

We posted a wish list yesterday. This is what we walked into today.
Boxes stacked to the ceiling, and so many paper towels! Behind them, a tower we haven't even opened yet. All of it showed up because people read a list and decided to help.
You did this in a day.
The list's still open if you want to add to the pile. It's in the first comment.

You asked: who actually lives at AcademySTAY?
Young adults, 18 to 24, who are transitioning out of foster care and pursuing a degree or a trade. Some are at Sac State or community college. Others are training as CNAs, welders, heavy equipment operators, estheticians, EMTs. Every one of them is building toward something, with their own furnished apartment to do it from.
What else do you want to know? Ask below.

Every apartment here comes furnished down to the rice cooker. The pantry is where you come in.
Our students move into a place that's ready to live in. What runs out is the everyday stuff. Rice, oatmeal, dish soap, the second roll of paper towels nobody thinks about until it's gone.
Our Amazon wish list keeps those shelves stocked, and most items are under $20.
[Wish list link in the first comment.]
Hosting a workplace or friend group? We keep a separate list of staples we always need. Comment DRIVE and we'll send it over.

We're in!
AcademySTAY was selected as one of ten Sacramento nonprofits for the inaugural Sacramento Countywide Nonprofit Partnership Initiative, a 20-month capacity-building program through the Sacramento Region Community Foundation and Sacramento County.
We're honored to be in the room with organizations doing serious work across our region. And we're ready to put what we learn to work for our students.
More to come!

The system shouldn't require a young adult to lose their housing before they can get help keeping it.
We support the HOME for Foster Youth Act, introduced this week in Congress. This bipartisan bill removes the requirement that young adults transitioning from foster care must already be homeless to qualify for Foster Youth to Independence (FYI) housing vouchers. It shifts federal policy from crisis response to prevention.
AcademySTAY was built on the belief that stability shouldn't be a reward for surviving instability. This bill reflects that same logic.

Sacramento counted 7,458 people without stable housing this year. That's 13% more than last year.
Here's the number we want you to hold onto: shelter and transitional housing use is up 22%.
More of our neighbors are getting indoors. More of them are getting a door that locks, a bed that's theirs, and a person who knows their name. That's not nothing. That's the whole game.
AcademySTAY exists in that 22%. Every student we house is one more person who isn't in the 13%. The math is brutal in its simplicity.
If you've ever wondered whether your giving matters in a problem this big, this is your answer. The door costs money to keep open. Help us keep ours open.
Donate: academystay.org/donate

California just opened a $3,000 trust account for every eligible young adult who spent time in foster care. It's called the HOPE Program, and the application window is open now.
Here's the catch: a state benefit only matters if the people who qualify actually know it exists and have someone to help them claim it.
If you know a young adult who aged out of California foster care, send them this link: https://hopeaccount.ca.gov/
Share this post. Someone in your network knows someone who qualifies.

Support for CA Youth Impacted by COVID & Foster Care | HOPE Funds for young people who lost a parent or caregiver to COVID or received foster care: HOPE Program.

Last night, Dr. Flo Cofer came to AcademySTAY and talked with our students about what civic engagement actually looks like -- and what it has to do with their lives. These are young adults who've had their voices minimized. Dr. Cofer showed up to say otherwise. We're grateful she made the time. And if you know these faces, you know they were paying attention.
Flo Cofer for Supervisor 2026