Financial Officer: Joshua Mitchell (josh.mitchell@stanford.edu)
Amount Approved: $12460.97
Full Budget

What is the mission and purpose of your student group?

Barrio Assistance (B.A.) was initiated in 1971 by student members
of the Chicano/ Latino community as an effort to provide
Spanish-speaking children from East Palo Alto community with
tutoring and mentoring opportunities. The program is composed of
two components: K-6 B.A. and Bridge. Each component operates by
pairing a child with a Stanford student who serves as their tutor
and mentor for the duration of one academic year.

Barrio Assistance is a means to combat the low educational
attainment of the Chicano/Latino community at large by providing
one on one tutoring and mentoring. Barrio Assistance was created
to bring learning opportunities to a community that has
historically been denied adequate education.

The spirit of B.A. is one of empowerment. We believe that each
child, given academic and social support, is capable of success.
We aim to assist our students in developing positive
self-concepts that allow them to realize that they are capable of
overcoming whatever obstacles they may confront. Further we aim
to enable students to see themselves as successful learners who
have long-term educational goals.

The program consists of a diverse group of tutor/mentors who take
an active role in building lasting relationships with the East
Palo Alto community. Students bring a multiplicity of
backgrounds, majors, interests, and goals to the
mentoring/tutoring relationship.

The children are all Chicano/Latino residents of East Palo Alto.
They are recruited into the B.A. Program if they are performing
below grade level, have difficulty adapting to an
English-speaking environment, and/or have discipline and social
problems.

Why are you requesting Special Fees?

For thirty-three years, Barrio Assistance has been an integral
part of the Stanford community and has depended on special fees. 
Because we conduct tutoring on campus for students? convenience,
we seek special fees to pay for the cost of transporting the
children to Stanford.  We also require funds for educational
literature, arts and crafts supplies, and food.  Finally, in
conjunction with several dorms, we hold special events on campus
such as the Halloween Haunted House with Branner and Kimball.

What are the three largest line item requests in your budget and why?

1.	Transportation ($9450)

Because our tutoring sessions take place on campus for students?
convenience, we rent vans to bring the children from East Palo
Alto to Stanford.  There are also quarterly field trips that
require transportation. Thanks to additional support from the
HAAS center we are able to trim neary $3000 in transportation
costs from last year.

2.	Food ($5,436)

Both children and Stanford students are served dinner on Friday
evenings for Bridge and breakfast on Saturday mornings for B.A. 
Special events also require additional food expenditures.

3.    Programming Expenditures ($2,095.70)

This includes supplies for regular tutoring sessions, educational
material, funds for the Halloween Haunted House, and gifts for
the Holiday Party.

If you applied for Special Fees last year, is there an increase in the
amount you're seeking this year?  If so, why?

Due to extra support from the HAAS center, there is a decrease in
the amount we are seeking from Special Fees.