University Prep (UP!) and College to Career (C2C) Programs Support Latino Youth on Their Path to Higher Education 

Our program University Prep (UP!) is dedicated to supporting Latino youth from sixth grade through high school with intensive afterschool academic assistance. The program focuses on students who are earning B and C grades, including English Language Learners, and students that come from very low-income families with recent immigration experiences due to the fact these students often have the potential to excel academically but lack access to the resources, support, and opportunities that that would support this success.  

By providing targeted academic and social-emotional support, we help these students strengthen their skills, boost their confidence, and reach their full potential—including achieving A-level performance. UP! students are often the first in their families to graduate from high school and pursue higher education.  

Canal Alliance provides instruction in core subjects, weekly tutoring, small-group workshops, and daily homework support. Our students also benefit from social-emotional learning, behavioral health services, outdoor enrichment experiences, and family engagement activities Once UP! students have graduated from high school, they are automatically enrolled in our College to Career Program (C2C), which provides ongoing academic, social-emotional, and behavioral health support, scholarship assistance, and case management throughout their college years. 

We have seen many students become successful through these programs. Deysi Mendez, is an active board member and Caterin Duarte Reynosa, graduated from UC Santa Cruz as a software engineer. Both Deysi and Caterin started out at Canal Alliance’s UP! Program.  

This is a result of grants like the one Redwood Credit Union has provided UP! Students. Recently Redwood Credit Union has given $15,000 to go towards the program. This will support our Youth Education, continue program expansion, and provide wraparound services like financial readiness, outdoor enrichment, and much more for additional students and their families.