About UsThe hearts and minds devoted to our mission.
Our team is comprised of passionate people from all walks of life. From our Founder and Board of Directors to the mentors and tutors working with each child, we are all focused on one shared vision for the future. Xtreme Youth began because a single person was touched by her experience with two children. With all of us working together, the difference we can make is beyond measure.
“Our society needs to make a commitment to better the lives of families, to make somebody else’s children all our children.” - John Hubner and Jill Wolfson
Our storyIt started with a CASA.
The foundation of Xtreme Youth was inspired by Kathliene’s work as a CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) for a San Diego based non-profit called Voices for Children.
CASAs help children in the foster care, and juvenile justice systems, advocating for their rights and individual needs. More than volunteers, CASAs often become a consistent and loving presence in the otherwise unstable circumstances of foster youth.
Kathliene’s very first case took her by surprise, illustrating for the first time how much education was lacking from these children’s lives. The constant stress in their daily lives meant that education was rarely a priority in their homes—if they had a place to call home at all.
Recognizing this need, Kathliene enlisted the help of a tutor, who met with her case children twice a week, and she saw amazing improvement almost immediately. Their personalities blossomed, they had renewed excitement about school, and they were earning the accolades to prove it. More than anything, the tutoring sessions transformed their confidence. Today, those children are continuing to grow as dedicated students—and they believe they can make a difference in the world.
National research shows that children in foster care are at high risk of dropping out of school, and are unlikely to graduate from high school or attend college. Sometimes a single person who cares is all it takes to change the course of the future for a child, and that’s why we work with a network of partners who care as much as we do.
Youth are referred to our program by social workers, case managers, court-appointed special advocates (CASAs) and caregivers. From there, Xtreme Youth matches the appropriate tutor for the child and makes arrangements for the tutoring and mentoring to commence
The Foundation Behind Our TeamBuilding A Passionate, Trustworthy Team of Difference-Makers.
The people who want to work for Xtreme Youth are passionately dedicated to guiding a struggling child through hard times. They provide a compass for the heart, mind and spirit to help change the trajectory for these children. They do this by building invisible ladders through tutoring and mentoring to help each child reach their goals and continue to dream big.
Our tutors and mentors are extraordinary individuals with compassionate hearts, and come from counseling, teaching, clinical and social work backgrounds. We even have tutors who have been in the foster care system themselves and understand the struggles firsthand. They now want to step in and make a difference in the lives of these kids the way others did for them. All hired applicants undergo an extensive background check and live scan.
Meet Kathliene
Kathliene Sundt has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) since 2015 and continues to be driven by her passion to give foster children and homeless youth the opportunities and encouragement they need to uncover their own strengths and realize their full potential. Kathliene earned her Masters of Jurisprudence with an emphasis in Child Law and Policy from Loyola Chicago School of Law in 2022 and is currently pursuing her PhD in Clinical Psychology. She is proud to serve on the board of Housing 4 the Homeless Foundation and looks forward to helping at-risk youth heal from trauma and mental illness to navigate their lives towards a better legacy. Kathliene lives with her husband and two children in San Diego. In her personal time, she relishes spending time with friends, family, expressing herself through oil painting and dreaming BIG.
Meet our partnersOrganizations serving foster youth.
We’re actively working with other organizations to bridge the gap for local foster youth.