Transforming lives, one person at a time

"Whenever I spend time with Sacred Rock, I feel as if I don't have anything to worry about. I always experience something new and this time I saw two shooting stars for the first time, I love every moment I spend there."

We work with underserved young people and youth-serving agencies throughout California's Central Valley, The Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra as well as the Yosemite area. We go out for hikes and climbs, river time, star gazing, some community service work, and connect through conversations, journaling, and reflections. The Sacred Rok model is all about building relationships.

We are unique because of our close and longterm work with incarcerated youth. We have partnered with Juvenile Hall in Merced County for a decade and with Juvenile Hall in San Benito County for 4 years. The Merced Probation Department brings the youth to Yosemite, and Ron goes down to their classroom at Juvenile Hall bringing organic lunch fixings. The trips to Yosemite are transformational – experiencing the healing ceremony of nature and developing mutual respect with trip leader Ron Kauk. Imagine helping these young people to feel safe and find their voice, knowing that they are loved and trusted.

Here is what one Juvenile Hall youth says about Sacred Rok. "It's really a blessing when you realize how much a person cares about trying to teach the world and not only what he knows. It was a type of privilege to be with Sacred Rok and achieve more knowledge and motivate me to do better. I lost time with my family but now I'm working as a construction interior repair team member and I'm only seeing me doing better. Thank you Sacred Rok for giving me another chance and special thanks to you Mr. Ron Kauk for keeping this movement still moving like we always talked about."

And here is a video with some of our incarcerated Sacred Rok youth; their faces are blurred to protect their confidentiality.