Helping to build healthy cities

Becht took time to reflect on her career at the nonprofit she founded as she prepares to retire after 21 years. And while she will stay on board through the fall to help with her successor’s transition, Becht recognized the end of her time with the organization she launched is near.

The legacy she will leave behind is a thriving program, which last year paired adult volunteers with more than 470 students needing educational support from San Carlos and Redwood City.

Healthy Cities Tutoring’s reach has expanded exponentially over the years, as it started in 1997 with two students at White Oaks Elementary School in San Carlos. Due to popular demand, 25 more students were added by the end of the year, which led to its introduction at Heather and Brittan Acres elementary schools. Within three years, each school in the San Carlos Elementary School District enrolled students in the program.

Becht’s program did not stop at its founding city’s border though, as a former San Carlos educator who took an administrative role in Redwood City came calling for Healthy Cities help in 2014.

Since initially serving 12 students at Clifford Elementary School in Redwood City, the program grew by leaps and bounds to enrolling 90 students last year. The tutoring program is also now available at a few more Redwood City schools and plans are to continue expanding to other campuses in the coming years, said Becht.

In all, Healthy Cities Tutoring serves about 320 students in San Carlos and 150 in Redwood City. Students identified by their teachers as candidates for needing additional assistance and volunteer tutors are asked to work at least one hour after school together for one year.

But Becht said it is common for some partnerships to develop beyond the baseline expectation into much longer lasting and deeper connections, progressing from tutoring to mentoring.

“There’s a lot of relationships that are formed that really make a difference for kids,” said Becht, who notes a focus of the program is intergenerational pairings, in which young students are often connected with senior volunteers.

Eirene Chen, president of the San Carlos Elementary School District, lauded Becht’s essential role in facilitating these sorts of nurturing relationships.

“[Healthy Cities] has fostered intergenerational relationships, across San Carlos and Redwood City. Donna’s been at the helm, and her unending energy, optimism and persistence has made [Healthy Cities] what it is today,” Chen said in an email. “We’re all so very grateful and know that this work will live on through the strong organization that she’s built.”

The bonds established frequently pay quantifiable dividends, as at least 80 percent of teachers with students in the program last year reported their subjects showing improved academic performance, engagement and self confidence, according to Becht.

She added the benefit is mutual as well, as 98 percent of tutors agreed in an exit survey they gained satisfaction from helping others and 96 percent of students rated their tutors as good or great.

And while she appreciates the positive feedback, Becht said the most rewarding elements of her work come in the daily operation of a program designed around building community connections.

“Almost every day in this job, I’ve had some sort of satisfaction. A comment from a parent, student or teacher who brings so much joy and make this a fun thing to be a part of,” she said.

Then why step away? Becht said her husband David recently retired, which opened her eyes to the possibility that it could be time to move on from the organization she has cared so deeply about for so long.

“I felt like it was time to do some other things,” she said. “But I want to stay connected.”

To that end, no stranger to the difficulties of raising the money necessary to run a nonprofit without a dedicated funding source, Becht said she plans to maintain her role as a chief grant writer through the immediate term. She will also help her successor, likely to be named in the coming months, get their feet on the ground.

But as she can see the light at the end of the long tunnel she has traveled with the program, Becht expressed her appreciation for the opportunity and people she has encountered over the years.

“It’s just amazing. Every year, there are just so many incredible people in our community that come forward that I got the privilege of knowing,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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