About DYF

 

Dr. Mary Olney

Our History

DYF was founded in 1938 by Dr. Mary B. Olney, a physician from UC San Francisco. Dr. Olney believed that children with type-1 diabetes could live healthy and productive lives by learning how to care for their diabetes with a complex management system. Today, DYF still holds true to that philosophy, creating opportunities for children, teens and families with diabetes which are equal to that of their peers who do not have diabetes. The mission of the Diabetic Youth Foundation (DYF) is to improve the quality of life for children, teens and families affected by diabetes. They accomplish this by providing education and recreation programs within a supportive community, encouraging personal growth, knowledge and independence. DYF also recognizes the impact that Type-1 diabetes can have on a family unit and is dedicated to supporting the parents, caregivers and sibling who are affected.

DYF is a founding member of the Diabetes Education and Camping Association (DECA) and DYF’s Bearskin Meadow Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association.

Our Mission

The mission of the Diabetic Youth Foundation is to improve the quality of life for children, teens and families affected by diabetes. The Foundation provides education and recreation within a supportive community, encouraging personal growth, knowledge and independence.

For more information about DYF and its programs call 925-680-4994, go to our programs section.

Read About 2011 DYF Accomplishments

December 2011

As our 74th year of providing services comes to a close, we are proud that our programs continue to change the lives of the children, teens and families living with diabetes and the community that supports them. While the economic environment remains a challenge to DYF, we are thankful to our many supporters that fund more than 70% of the actual cost of our programs. It is truly because of them that we are able to create programs with long term impact.

With our community’s help, we can celebrated several accomplishments this past year, including,

• The opening of Doc and Ellen’s Place, BMC’s new Health Center and Family Living Building. Now we have a great place for diabetes management, and indoor sleeping accommodations for families with small children or other special needs;
• Provided more scholarships for all BMC programs, including 63 scholarship participants in our Kids and Teen Camps;
• A new cabin to house our volunteer Pediatric Endocrinologists, which has allowed us to attract world-class doctors with families to be part of our health professional team at BMC;
• Renovated headquarters building at Bearskin Meadow Camp, which has allowed us to have effective working space for camp staff and better programs for kids, teens and families;
• Operated at capacity for all BMC programs and served almost 800 kids, teens and families through our 9 programs this summer;
• Provided services to over 700 individuals in programs outside of BMC, including two weekend Family Camps, a Teen Weekend Retreat, a Teen Ski Weekend, several one day programs, including Surf Day, Skate and Bowling nights and our collaboration with UCSF in running their Kids Kamp program during their annual diabetes symposium;
• Held a one week Day Camp program in Oakland. We had 29 children participate and it provided DYF an opportunity to serve children (and parents) whom are not ready for sleep-away camp. Next year, we will have three locations (Sacramento, Palo Alto and Oakland) and we plan on serving 120 kids;
• Provided logistical support to the Stanford Hospital Pediatric Endocrinology department helping them offer the “Camp De Los Ninos” this past summer. DYF will be working closely with the Stanford Hospital, the YMCA of the Silicon Valley, and other health providers and play a lead role in providing this program next summer;
• Presented a diabetes training program at the California School Nurses conference this past summer;
• Created a new website (www.dyf.org) that is informative and much easier to navigate.

While we are very proud of our achievement over the past year, we know our work is far from done. There are new children being diagnosed every day, and families need our services more than ever to help them navigate the complexity of living well with diabetes. Until there is no more diabetes, we at DYF will continue to work hard in creating a community of services and people that will enable those affected by diabetes to live well and thrive. If you would like to support DYF with a donation, click here.

With appreciation,

Mats Wallin Executive Director