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Nick has been a youth educator since November of 2018. Born in New Mexico, his family relocated to Tucson when he was a baby, so he calls Tucson home. Graduating from the University of Arizona in 2018, he first attended West Hills Community College as a baseball player for two years, and eventually came back to Tucson to attend Pima Community College and the U of A to receive his Bachelors of Science degree in Public Health. Nick mainly teaches the Wyman Teen Outreach Clubs and Summer Leadership Institute. What do you like about being an Educator at AZYP: I want to be a mentor and leader to kids and help them achieve their goals Are things different for youth today than when you grew up?: I grew up in the Amphi School District and played a lot of sports. If there were programs like this, they met after school, so I couldn’t have gone if there were. I like that we teach our classes during school so we can interact with all kinds of kids. What has been a memorable moment for you in the last year while teaching: I was invited by the kids at Ha:san to attend their annual camping trip. It was great to hang out with the kids and teachers in a different setting. Another AZYP facilitator and I led the kids on the following day on an obstacle course and an outdoor, blindfolded version of the crane game and it was a lot of fun. The kids learned a bit of leadership and team work skills too. Youth from Ha:San Preparatory Academy at their annual camping trip Fun facts about Nick! He was named 2nd Team All Conference Utility Player, while attending West Hills Community College because he played so many positions while playing baseball there. Go Falcons! His favorite fictional character is: Michael Scott from the Office, because he always tries to do his best, even when it goes south so often! When he is not working he is most likely to be found working out, motorcycle riding, or hanging out with his girlfriend and their cute dogs! P.S. AZYP is a qualified charitable organization (20953) and your donation is eligible for the Arizona Tax Credit up to $400 for an individual and up to $800 for couples filing jointly. Contact your tax advisor for more information.

The Tax Reform Act of 2017 increased the standard deduction to $12,000.00 for individuals and $24,000.00 for couples. This has the potential to reduce the number of smaller donations to non-profit organizations without the incentive of a tax deduction. In 2019, Arizona Youth Partnership was pleased to join the Arizona Tax Credit Coalition (ATCCC). The ATCCC is a group of non profit organizations that qualify for the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit. The group has a website at GiveLocalKeepLocal.org. Luckily, in Arizona we have the ability to take tax credits, up to the amount of your Arizona Tax liability! Charitable Organization Tax Credit You can take as many credits as you like, UP to the amount of your tax liability. You can select a Charity to support at GiveLocalKeepLocal.org or you can make a donation to Arizona Youth Partnership at https://azyp.kindful.com/ Arizona Youth Partnership is based in Marana, Arizona and serves 11 counties in 18 locations throughout the state of Arizona. About Arizona Tax Credit Arizona Youth Partnership is a Qualifying Charitable Organization to accept Arizona Tax Credit donations because we are a 501(c)(3) charity that spends at least 50% of its budget on low income residents. What’s the difference between a tax credit and a tax deduction? A tax credit reduces your tax liability dollar-for-dollar. You can get back the FULL amount donated! Keep your Arizona state taxes local by directing your Arizona tax dollars to Arizona Youth Partnership! By making a donation to Arizona Youth Partnership as a Qualifying Charitable Organization, you may reduce the amount you owe to the state or you may increase your refund, dollar for dollar. This allows you to support Arizona Youth Partnership programs at no cost to you. How does this work? Anyone who pays Arizona state income tax is eligible for the credit and you’re not required to itemize deductions to claim the credit. Your primary residence must be within the state of Arizona. This credit is in addition to the school tax credits. You can make a Charitable Contribution Tax Credit donation AND a School Tax Credit. If you are unsure if you qualify for the tax credit, contact your tax advisor. The deadline to donate to a Qualifying Charitable Organization, and take advantage of the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit on your state taxes, is April 15th, 2019. How much can a taxpayer donate? Couples who file jointly can reduce their state taxes by up to $800; individuals or head of household filers can claim a tax credit of up to $400. Again, this is in addition to the School Tax Credit. You may donate any amount up to your limit and receive the credit; up to $800 if you are married and filing jointly, or $400 if you are married and filing separately or a single taxpayer or head of household. For example, if you give $100, you will be eligible for a tax credit of $100. If you give $1000, you will be eligible for up to a $800 tax credit (married, filing jointly), as well as a state tax deduction for any amount you donate over the tax credit limit. Charitable Contribution Tax Credit Donation Documentation Arizona Youth Partnership will send you an email immediately confirming the amount and date of your donation. This letter documents your contribution and is necessary to support your tax credit. Please make sure you include your name and home address on the donation page.

Don’t forget to take care of the important things in your life. Planning for the future ensures your family, friend or favorite charities will be taken care of no matter what happens. A Will helps you voice your values, relieves your family of the burden of trying to guess your final wishes and prevents confusion. Please join us for a free workshop with a top estate planning attorney! The Reid Park Zoological Society, together with The Drawing Studio, Humane Society of Southern Arizona, and Arizona Youth Partnership, is offering free workshops on updating and creating a will. The following are dates and locations of the workshops. Refreshments will be served. Thursday, March 12th,9:00am – 10:30am. Presenter: Travis Tufts. Location: Humane Society of Southern Arizona at 635 W. Roger Road Tuesday, March 31st, 6:00-7:30pm. Presenter: Denice Shepherd. Location: Reid Park Zoo at 3400 E Zoo Court, in the Zoofari Cafe Wednesday, April 29th, 9:00 – 10:300am. Presenter: Carrie Rednour. Location: Arizona Youth Partnership at 7575 W Twin Peaks Road #165 Note: Click date box on registration form for date selection

March 16, 2020 Dear Arizona Youth Partnership Community, Considering COVID-19 and recent state and federal guidance, we have made several changes. As we serve 10,000 youth and families directly across 13 counties with 90 staff who travel throughout Arizona, we know it’s time to postpone our activities to do our part to help stop the spread of this virus. We are not conducting school-based programs through the school closure and possibly beyond. Before the closure, we were reaching out to give alternate activities to schools. Community Based programming has been postponed or moved virtually as available Please reach out to your local contact for more information on upcoming programs Our youth shelters in Mohave and Yavapai counties remain open with strict precautions in place for the sanitation of the facility and the safety of the youth. Please contact us if you would like specific information on what we are doing to keep youth and staff safe. Open Doors Community School is closed along with all other Arizona schools at least through March 27. We are committed to continuing to provide prevention services throughout this period in a different way. In this time, our youth need positive skills and influences. If you would like to partner with us to move our programs online, please reach out and let us know what we can provide virtually to your population. Our staff remains available via email, or phone. Voicemails will be returned within 24 hours. Although we are working on social distancing as a Nation, we know we need each other more than ever. We’ll get through this together. Be healthy and stay safe. Regards, Lori Malangone CEO

I invite you to take a minute to look back on your own childhood. The chances are great that who you are today, how you think, what you do, what you have achieved, what your culture is, etc. was greatly influenced by the mentorship you did (or did not) receive from adults in your life. It is critical that youth are engaged with positive role models and mentors, especially through times of difficulties and ACEs, Adverse Childhood Experiences. As we face a global crisis of COVID-19 and struggle with unemployment, widespread fear, social distancing, and isolation, it is important that we do not forget the youth in our lives, and this does not only include your direct children. Whether you have students that you work with through a school, youth in a mentorship program, scouts in your troop, youth in a healthcare setting, kids from down the street who like to visit you, youth on a team you coach, or any other role involving youth, I do not believe we as adults realize the impact and mentorship that we have on them. During these times, youth need trusted adults the most. In college I volunteered for an amazing organization called Gabriel’s Angels with my certified therapy dog. We visited at-risk youth in a variety of settings, working specifically with the students labeled as “behavior difficulties”. These students truly did not enjoy coming to school, but also acted up the week before summer break because as much as they hated school, going home was even worse. It took two years for these students to share this with me… two years! Can you imagine growing up feeling alone and hopeless? Without a mentor or a meaningful adult relationship? The takeaway point: the youth in your life may not have opened up to you about what truly goes on in their life, or how much your presence in their life is making an impactful difference. During times like these, they need you the most. So how can you help? The following link includes a checklist with 19 creative ideas for developing relationships during the COVID crisis, including ways to reach out while maintaining proper quarantine restrictions. https://www.search-institute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Coronavirus-checklist-Search-Institute.pdf?utm_sourc Nicole Marlin is a Youth and Families Educator for Arizona Youth Partnership, serving the White Mountains area.

In the face of this pandemic, we are hearing about how to take care of ourselves to prevent contracting and spreading COVID-19: we are washing our hands more frequently, being more mindful about covering our coughs and sanitizing surfaces. Communities are practicing social distancing, sheltering in place, quarantine all in consideration of our health and the health of those around us. But what affect is all of this having on our mental well-being and the mental health of those we care about? The new “normal” each of us is experiencing right now can cause us to have a lot of different feelings. Are you overwhelmed by the constant barrage of new information you are seeing the on news and on social media? Worried about the impact of lost income as businesses close on a temporary or permanent basis? Antsy because you are a very social creature and you can’t do things you would normally be doing (with the people who mean the most to you)? Angry because major plans (including graduations and weddings) have been cancelled or postponed? Tired of hearing “we’re all in this together”, “we’ll get through this” or “at least you’re healthy”? It is absolutely okay to be feeling…whatever it is you are feeling. That said, in order to keep mentally healthy, we have to be honest about those feelings, find someone to process them with and most importantly find healthy ways to deal with these thoughts and emotions. It’s not going be as simple as “snap out of it”, “find something to do at home”, “this too shall pass”. If we are going to take care of each other, we have to take care of ourselves first. This article has some tips on how to do that. | How to Care for Yourself While Practicing Physical Distancing Now take it one step further: imagine that someone you care about/have frequent contact with is having all of those feelings but they were dealing with a mental health concern before COVID-19 was part of our everyday lives and it seems they are struggling much harder or not dealing well at all. Maybe their depression or bi-polar disorder is keeping them from reaching out for help – from you or anyone. AzYP is proud to be providing Mental Health First Aid training throughout Pima County and are eager to share the resources at our disposal to help the community walk through this stressful time. This article can provide some tips on how to reach out to someone who might need you.

Thank you for your past support of Arizona Youth Partnership (AZYP) on Arizona Gives Day and throughout the year. I’m reaching out to tell you how AZYP is handling this day differently this year. We know that many organizations are in tremendous need to even keep their doors open and keep their staff employed. Through your past generosity, we are blessed to have stable funding at this time during this crisis. In a normal year, we would be asking you to consider giving to us again. This year, we are asking for something different. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in ways we cannot have imagined, and I’m sure there are more changes to come. Our commitment to the youth and families of Arizona is unchanged. Our mission is to build solid foundations for youth and families by partnering with Arizona communities to prevent and solve local issues such as substance abuse, youth homelessness, lack of educational opportunities, teen pregnancy, and challenging family dynamics. Our shelter teams in Kingman, Bullhead City, and Prescott Valley have continued to care for the youth entrusted to their care. Our case workers for the Starting Out Right program that supports pregnant and parenting teens continue to serve their clients via online video chat, email, and telephone. The remaining facilitators and administration staff have transitioned to teleworking. The incredible creative minds of our staff have, with the help of our curriculum publishers, been coming up with new and innovative ways to reach the at-risk youth of Arizona. Our programs are taught in partnership with dozens of schools around the state, and with the announcement that school will not be in session again this year, we will continue to work to find ways to assist in the delivery of our greatly needed prevention programs. As I said earlier, Arizona Gives Day is coming up next Tuesday, April 7th. This year, here is what we would like to ask: Follow Governor Ducey’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected order of March 30, 2020. By physically isolating ourselves, we can slow the curve of community spread; Strengthen your family by having dinner together, playing board games, and enjoying this unexpected time together; Send messages of hope to essential workers via social media by using the hashtag #thankyouessentialworkers; Support local blood drives, blood banks have reached a critical shortage during this time. Open Doors Community School will be hosting a blood drive on April 8th at 13644 Sandario Road, Marana, AZ 85653. AZYP will be hosting a drive on April 14th at 7575 W Twin Peaks Road, Tucson, AZ 85743. You can sign up for either of these drives at this link. That’s it! Of course if you are able and would like to participate in Arizona Gives Day for Arizona Youth Partnership, you can click here, and donate during the the power hour from 9-10am, or all day! If you are using this time to complete your taxes, and would like to make a tax credit eligible donation, you can do that at azyp.org/donate. Most of all, we want you and your family to be safe and healthy. We are continuing our mission. Our staff is working on innovative ways to go virtual for the current time, and we look forward to delivering our services to youth and families in person again throughout Arizona when this pandemic is over. In health, Lori Malangone Chief Executive Officer

As part of Prevention Week (May 15-20,2020) several of our Coalition staff are interviewing people in the community regarding youth substance abuse. Today, Leo Ventresca, Prevention Coordinator in Bullhead City, AZ speaks with Ronny Jones, a Peer Support Specialist. Ronny shared with Leo his story of drug abuse at a young age, and the things he feels may help youth stay away from substance abuse in the future.