Story reposted with permission from The Times-Standard.
Dream Quest in Willow Creek was created by the community to serve local youth in exploring opportunities and building their dreams.
It’s no secret that young people face many challenges today. Nationwide, many struggle with anxiety. Youth in Eastern Humboldt also deal with isolation, limited opportunity, poverty, high rates of homelessness and transportation challenges. There’s a local lack of resources due to geographical isolation and being a small community, such as access to learning opportunities. It’s a pretty intimidating list.
Executive Director Trish Oakes says that “sometimes all you can do is make a small step in meeting these challenges.”
“Sometimes you have to build your own opportunities because they are otherwise unavailable,” she says. “Otherwise, families have to drive an hour for their children to participate, which is hard and expensive.”
Trish came to be involved when a friend invited her to join the founding board. Being busy running her own business at the time, she almost declined. The rest is history, and Trish has basically been leading the organization for 23 years.
Dream Quest serves 200-300 people per year.
I asked Trish what her favorite aspect of the work is. “My personal favorite is to give someone their first job. I can’t count how many people we’ve done that for,” she says.
Trish provided the example of one young lady who volunteered in the organization’s thrift store, then became an employee, then a better and better employee. She is now floor manager and youth case manager at a nonprofit on the coast; “The young lady attended when we did the groundbreaking for our new youth center and said, ‘I can’t imagine ever having a job that is not mission-based.’”
Programming struck me as surprisingly diverse. There’s the WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act)-funded StepUp work experience and training program. There are programs for drama, ballet, afterschool and more. Summer signups for swimming lessons and Creekstyle Music Club are happening now.
And this one is fun. On Sunday, June 28, a short show, “Bring it On Bigfoot! A Reality Show!,” will debut at 6 p.m. in the new community youth center. The youth drama club created this. It will serve as an endcap for Willow Creek’s Bigfoot Daze festival, the town’s happeningest event. Price of admission to the 30-minute show is a snack for the center’s after-school program (think cookies, mac and cheese, etc.).
The organization serves as the WIOA youth provider for Eastern Humboldt County, and the Humboldt County Workforce Development Board (the local WIOA-affiliated body) is the primary funding partner. Other recent funders include the Redwood Coast Regional Center and the Headwaters Fund.
Dream Quest relies heavily on support from Humboldt County’s bighearted citizenry. Trish asks that community members donate cash, donate high-quality goods and shop at the Dream Quest Thrift Store — or that we volunteer at the Youth Center and at the thrift store. The store is the organization’s primary revenue source and also serves as a work experience training site. To donate, go to https://dream-quest—willow-creek-youth-partnership.square.site/. To volunteer, phone 530-629-3564 or stop by Dream Quest.
The organization just completed its 8,200-square-foot Dream Quest Community Youth Center. It’s an incredible new space, made possible by the generosity of Humboldt County.
“After 26 years, we’ve succeeded in not only building a youth center, but a huge, beautiful, incredible building,” Trish says.
In addition to all of the youth programs, there’s a stage and a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. While Dream Quest occupies the facility, moving there in late 2025, they continue to develop the space and plan future uses.
In a place where distance and limited resources create real barriers, Dream Quest continues to prove that creativity, persistence, and local support can help youth imagine — and build — a stronger future.
To nominate a deserving nonprofit organization to be profiled, please email michael@kraftconsultants.com. Michael Kraft writes the Good Work series, volunteering on behalf of the Northern California Association of Nonprofits (NorCAN). NorCAN, a DreamMaker project of the Ink People, supports connections between people and organizations that work every day to keep our communities healthy and strong by offering professional development, board support, networking connections and more. Learn more at https://norcal-nonprofits.org/.