When my husband and I decided to become foster parents we knew we wanted to work with a Foster Care…read moreAgency. After some research we found Rebekah Children's Services (RCS). After meeting the staff and completing our training, we found that RCS has the most amazing social workers. Not only are they always available for our foster youth, they are there to support us, the foster parents. That was the whole reason for going with a Foster Care Agency, having a team of people who are there to support the foster parents as well. We have been foster parents since 2019 with RCS and we would highly recommend them.

From the owner: For more than 115 years, our team at Rebekah Children's Services has been helping children Santa…read moreClara County find loving homes, get the treatment they need, and overcome obstacles in their lives.

Great way to help the dogs distress and get out. Will be doing this again. Soooo cuteeeread more

Fantastic place to connect with wonderful animals. Had a great time getting to meet all of the…read morewonderful animals.

A wonderful organization that enables caring adults the opportunity to work with children through…read morethe courts. It is very enriching to both the children and the adults who participate. I did it for about 20 years and loved every child I was fortunate enough to interact with.

Discriminatory practices against volunteers-in-training. Not just discriminatory, but…read moretraumatizingly so. A day before being sworn-in to become a CASA, I was told that the organization does not want me to continue with them, because they had made horrible assumptions about my character and personality, including that I was arriving to trainings inebriated (which they told me only as they were kicking me out of the program, not in any way that was a question, like: "are you inebriated? were you inebriated?", instead: "Some people thought you may have been" -- oh, some people thought, that's a good reason to keep a person from volunteering with foster youth. I'm glad you're not working with the law or anyth- oh, right), as well as that I was too enveloped in my own trauma to help (my mistake for letting them know I had experienced trauma in the past when they asked me. I guess I should have lied, since from then on out, everything I said, they assumed was me talking about trauma). They left me broken. Do you know how heartbreaking it is to have a plan like this, know how you're going to work with foster kids and youth and help them feel heard, walk through life feeling like you have this goal and working towards it -- then not only being stopped from it, but being told that people think you're weird? That when you thought you were being helpful in group discussions, in training sessions, they were writing you up for being drunk? I wasn't actively traumatized before, and I don't know why they were obsessing over that, but when I emailed the person who did the interview with me about it to tell them that I feel uncomfortable with the fact that they keep bringing it up and just wonder if there's anything more to the issue, they kicked me out that very day, claiming that my email asking about this issue was "defensive" and "raised many red flags". I would beg to differ, as my email literally ends with "Sorry for the long email -- I just wanted to explain everything so it doesn't seem like I'm being rude or anything" All I'm saying, I can't imagine they treat volunteers better than they treat families, children, youth. I am horrified for the future. This is absolutely horrific, judgemental, disgusting behavior. By the way, the reason I was "behaving strangely" -- I'm neurodivergent. But of course, they don't care about that. Just remember, they view disability as drunkenness. Shameful. Shameful.

I found a dying squirrel on the sidewalk - it was clearly suffering. I called SVACA and they sent…read moreOfficer Beltran. I left the site, but Officer Beltran was kind enough to call me to let me know that he'd gotten the squirrel - who was severely injured and probably won't make it, but I know SVACA did what they could to ease its suffering. I'm really grateful we have SVACA to help animals in distress.

I want this photo to resonate with this companies team. I found this kitten left at our companies…read moredoorstep. I called this company to ask if they could help, but they said since the kitten was outside the jurisdiction, they wouldn't help.. Yeah, good job guys, please seek employment elsewhere if you don't want to help.

I must leave this review because I need to put this information out there. This is a good foodbank…read morethat provides people good groceries once a month, per person/household. However, there are some volunteers whose behavior, while not vile, is questionable enough that I need to share. For whatever reason, the two women who take turns at the front desk have been quite unwelcoming to me. One of them denied me service, because I had come to late in her opinion. I had come 30 minutes before closing time. Surely that's enough time for one more person to receive groceries, but I guess she didn't want to stay there another minute. The entire time I was in line, I could hear this woman talking to the other volunteers about the time, and how it was almost 3PM (closing time). I thought that was very rude of her. I don't appreciate the unwelcoming behavior, especially since I didn't do anything wrong; I had come within operating hours. Now the second woman, always greets people very kindly, and with a smile at that. But whenever it's my turn, her face and voice turn cold. She always asks me to back up and doesn't smile and make small talk like she does with everyone else. I don't expect or demand ANY volunteer or employee of any establishment to "be nice to me", but the fact that it's always me that is singled out is mildly hurtful. I just don't understand why I am treated differently. I have never disrespected any volunteer there or hassled them.

I support this program primarily because the community benefits from the resources without having…read moreto pay a single dime. The volunteers behind the counter are lovely and helpful, and seem to genuinely care about the impact of their service. They can use some help with clean up around the building but a great program to support

At the heart of every organizational decision is the welfare and safety of the youth they serve…read more Their goal is not having youth focused on day-to-day survival, it is about creating self-sufficiency, surrounded by healthy relationships and creating & achieving long-term goals.

I recently attended a free 3 hour course offered by Unity Care titled "Engaging Children and Youth…read morethrough the lens of Transcultural Engagement Model." The class was amazing and I loved the perspective provided by the Unity Care staff member as he shared both his personal and professional experiences as a person of color at home and in the workplace. I highly recommend checking out these free courses taught by Unity Care staff, especially in light of our current racial climate. Good job Unity Care!

We attended our first Adoption 101 class in 2020 and the official outreach program in 2021. In our…read moresearch for agencies, we were really drawn to Adoption Connection (AC) b/c of their commitment and fierce advocacy for Birth mothers. After speaking with other agencies, attorneys and consultants, we felt that they were the most transparent not only with adoptive parents, but also with offering Birth Mothers perspective, counseling, and a listening ear to make the most informed decision during the most difficult time of their lives. We were told from the outset that 3 years+ was a realistic estimate in terms of placement and though we hoped it would be earlier, we understood how delicate this journey was. We were sent quarterly updates with the number of times our brochure had been presented (over 40 by the end of our process), but we had never met a Birth Mother in person yet. It's very easy to go to dark places and play the blame game as to why it hasn't happened yet, but we decided to turn our sadness into a year of yes. Yes to the trips, yes to the dinners, and yes to adventures that came our way. We started therapy and really worked on being the best version of ourselves we could for whenever we got the call. In our research, the best advice we were given is that as adoptive parents, we have to be ok with being 4th place in terms of choices for Birth Mothers who are placing their child up for adoption: 1st is with a birth parent 2nd is with a family member 3rd is with a member of their community We were more than happy to be 4th place and it's with that mindset, we were able to wait (as difficult as it was) almost 3 years for a placement. Our Birth Mother was very confident in her decision to place her child up for adoption, but understandably had second thoughts once the child was born. Those first 30 days were so stressful and AC really stepped up and not only offered comfort, perspective, and options for the Birth Mother, but also coached us through the difficult time of having the child with us and the possibility of things not working out. It was very important to all of us that our Birth Mother felt secure and safe in whatever decision she made and in the end, she felt that we were the best option for her child. Adoption is not for the faint of heart, but if not for the expertise and advice of the team at AC, we definitely would not have been able to honestly tell our child that this decision was not made lightly and was made out of an abundance of love b/c he was so wanted by all parties. We're so thankful for the Adoption Connection Team and their continued support of Birth Mothers and Adoptive Families.

This is a close to a scam as it gets by avoiding the legal classification as scam. The whole…read morecompany seems to be set up by family law experts as 'legalized sam' skirting regulations as much as possible. You pay a high fee for outreach ($30k) to be shown 1-2 times a year to potential birthmothers. You will not have any matches for years. After that the 'case workers' will push an adoption on you without giving you any disclosure required by CA/ Federal law about the baby or birthmother situation. They will label it as only chance. Everything is hush hush. The cases they show you before you pay the fees are so different than what you will actually see it is heartbreaking. Avoid at all costs (like other reviewers here have detailed).

Was told to stop crying on the phone, no therapy provided, watched movies all day, wouldn't care if…read moreyou don't eat, threaten to sedate and restrain you if you cried, psychiatrist don't listen to you, do not go here

Mental health wise, I did stop wanting to harm myself. But there are some issues I have due to…read morestaff negligence even though there were always six of them at a time: 1. I had to use the toilet while in socks. They had no alternative and despite the fact that I am a germaphobe with OCD, they didn't help me or talk with me at all even after I brought up my concerns. I had to force myself to hold in my urine for 24 hours. 2. Despite my cautioning that I have a retainer set that's very expensive and inconvenient to obtain, one of the staff didn't know and threw it away. What's upsetting was that when my parents and I ask the staff to search for it, they didn't bother searching for nearly an entire day and after then, it was too late. The new set would take nearly a month and a whopping $500 to make.

Best place ever! I'm pregnant and went to see if they could…read moredo a ultra sound of my baby. They got me in same day for appt. Very informative and gave me some nice gift baby booties. The nurses took great images and took there time. Everyone was so nice. See you on my next prenatal appt.

Pregnancy is never an experience that everyone is exactly ready for, even when it's planned. My…read morelong-term goal was to finish up my AA-T and head to a four year university. Sounds pretty straight forward, right? Well, August 1st I found out I was seven weeks pregnant at the time! At Planned Parenthood. A day before my out of state trip, too. Just my luck, right? Anyways... Fast forward a few weeks later and I got to see my little bean via Sonogram at RealOptions right next door. My boyfriend stumbled upon Birth and Beyond to set us up an appointment. I thought that was the most amazing thing he did! This place is great because Christine has all the resources that are needed for a successful birth journey for any couple or single mother out there. My partner and I clearly didn't plan our baby (this soon) as we are only 22 year olds and still want to see the world. But honestly, this has been the best experience for me and I'm glad that there are places like Birth and Beyond to help women through out these 9 months. It's scary, having to go through this alone and being young so it's nice to know people want to help you out! 5/5 recommend this place to any new moms out there.

I adopted a dog here last summer. I stumbled upon the post online on a Thursday & decided to apply…read more That evening I received an interview phone call (I actually ended up chatting with the volunteer for an hour!) The following morning I received an email that I was invited to meet/adopt. I paid the $75 deposit and scheduled a meeting for Sunday morning, to give myself a day to think it over. Friday night I spent some time looking into the rescue since the previous steps had happened so quickly. After reading reviews, I was definitely upset & VERY hesitant after reading how their meet and greet process goes and where the dogs come from. Saturday I mulled it all over, and decided to go visit the dog Sunday with a list of restrictions. I went early to stake the place out, it was definitely sketchy in a back parking lot and felt weird. Eventually the dog rounds the corner with his foster parents and we meet. The dog was exactly as described & his personality and demeanor matched perfectly to what I had heard about him. He jumped into my arms and I knew then there was no way I was leaving without him. I spent an hour there with the dog & the fosters. They answered all my questions, didn't rush me, and I really got a sense of the dog. Months later and he is still the same dog I met that day- I know this isn't the case for everyone, but I'd say give it a chance!

A hard "no" for this group! I wish I had seen the reviews on numerous sites before getting involved…read morew/ them. Horrible experience and have witnessed some harsh interactions. My best friend had similar experience. Some of the volunteers are wonderful, but management poor, unprofessional.