Each One Reach One (EORO)

Executive Director, Robin Sohnen
email: info@eoro.org

Mailing Address:
1486 Huntington Avenue Suite 304
South San Francisco, CA 94080

T650-225-9030
F650-225-9033

Website:
http://www.eoro.org

When is our next public event?

Juvenile Justice Center –San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center on April 3 and May 1, 2010

What does EORO do?
Each One Reach One (EORO) conducts intensive playwriting programs, which employ theater professionals to work, one-on-one, with at-risk youth of high school age attending alternative schools or incarceration facilities.

EORO also conducts A Dream and Plan for Tomorrow (ADAPT). The program provides weekly one-on-one after-school study halls for academic tutoring and life planning workshops to young people incarcerated at Hillcrest Juvenile Hall in San Mateo, CA

What are the benefits of its services to at-risk youth?

• Learning tools to express themselves creatively Building self-confidence and practicing decision-making
  
• Communicating difficult emotions and avoiding violence

Who provides these services?
Professional playwrights and actors serve as mentors, working one-on-one with youth, supporting the young writer in expressing their own thoughts, and in completing the complex task of writing a play.Professional actors from all over the San Francisco Bay Area volunteer to present the young writers' plays for a live audience of peers, family and friends, and youth facility staff.

Local college/university students and community members volunteer to tutor incarcerated youth in academic subjects and, most importantly, help them map out “a dream and a plan for tomorrow.”

Where does EORO run its programs?
Primarily in San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. Some of the facilities that have hosted programs are:

San Francisco's Juvenile Justice Center, San Mateo's Youth Services Center, Santa Clara’s Muriel Wright Residential Center & Wm James Boy’s Ranch, Log Cabin Boy’s Ranch, Camp Glenwood in La Honda, Marin Juvenile Hall, Delancey Street's Life Learning Academy, Treasure Island, Thornton Continuation High School, Daly City, San Mateo County's court and community high schools: Community School South, East Palo Alto; Community School North, Daly City; Community School Central, Redwood City49er's Academy, East Palo Alto YWCA, Palo Alto Pacific Islander's Outreach, East Palo Alto Boys and Girls Club of the Coastside, Half Moon Bay PAL (Police Activity League)/Redwood City Police Department Diversion Program, Pilarcitos High School, Half Moon Bay.

How many youth are served?
We are conducting 6-10 Playwriting Workshops per year, serving over 60 youth.

How was EORO founded?
Each One Reach One was founded in January 1997. As a long time community activist and former actress, Robin Sohnen saw a need to serve her San Mateo County community. Her strong urge to address issues with the juvenile justice system as a result of meeting a young incarcerated writer, Mario Rocha, were the inspiration for the founding of Each One Reach One.Robin's passion for the arts inspired her to create an arts program that gives a voice to young people and provides them with opportunities to experience the empowerment of creativity and success.Robin recruited her friend and former colleague Thomas Dean Kellogg, another theater professional, to pilot a new playwriting program. Tom, who had conducted successful playwriting programs for youth in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest, jumped at the chance. In April 1998, at the alternative Community School Central in Redwood City, Robin and Tom launched the first Playwriting Workshop.Since then, more than 450 young writers have written their own original, one-act plays, under the supportive mentorship of professional playwrights and performed by professional actors from the Bay Area's theater community.

What special recognition has EORO received?
In 1999, EORO received The New American Community Award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, for it's creative work and advocacy toward reducing crime in its community.