Misson & History
Mission
To provide services to the Greater Sacramento area that meet the individual needs of each family member. Our services provide a holistic approach focusing on PreK-12th grade academic support and enrichment, parent education and engagement, and community involvement and advocacy.
History
The Roberts Family Development Center (RFDC) was developed in the memory of Edmond St. Cyr Jr. and Ronie Howard, the deceased grandfather and grandmother of the Co-Founders, who were true believers in the principles of family.
RFDC began providing academic enrichment services in 2001, serving 13 students in North Sacramento. Since then, we have grown to provide academic wrap-around services for over 500 students, their families, and their communities. Our programs are primarily held at 7 sites in high risk neighborhoods throughout the Greater Sacramento area. Our services are focused on serving low-income families who struggle to secure quality care and academic support for their children. Students in these economically challenged families often struggle to keep up academically during the school year, leading to the achievement gap. This achievement gap is compounded by summer learning loss, putting them farther and farther behind with each passing year. Without support, children in these families often become trapped in a multigenerational cycle of poor life outcomes including poverty, lack of education, involvement with law enforcement, chronic health conditions, prolonged stress, etc.
Through our services and partnerships, RFDC is working to deconstruct the “school to prison pipeline” many of these students see in their neighborhoods every day and instead create a “cradle to career pipeline” for the students we serve. Our services and partnerships provide programs that begin serving children before they are born and continue until they reach adulthood. RFDC provides integrated family support as the North Sacramento/Del Paso Heights Community Incubator Lead for Sacramento Counties Reduction of African American Child Death Initiative. We provide the licensed College Bound Babies Preschool in the Twin Rivers Housing Complex. RFDC’s After-School Program and CDF Freedom Schools provide year-round academic support and enrichment. Our Youth Development Initiative provides education, enrichment, and gang prevention/intervention through Teen Internships, Teen Scene, Pacers Moving Forward College Prep at Grant Union High School, and Night Life Turned Right. We provide community engagement and gang intervention/prevention through the North Sacramento Community Coalition which brings together over 30 North Sacramento/Del Paso Heights agencies to support community growth and positive change.