Coco Farms Partners with Beat the Streets

Contra Costa Farms LLC ("Coco Farms") has partnered with "Beat the Streets" to fulfill the social equity component of Coco's Operating Agreement with the City of Antioch. Beat the Streets was founded in 2005 by Tracy Jones, its President, with the goal of ensuring that at-risk, low income young adults have resources needed to be successful in their educational and vocational goals. More about Tracy and Beat the Streets can be found at www.beatthestreatsca.org .

Coco Farms is granting $60,000 to $100,000 per year to fund a Program designed to provide support for children of incarcerated parents. More than 5 million U.S. children have had a parent in jail or prison at some point in their lives. The incarceration of a parent can have as much impact on a child's well-being as abuse or domestic violence. The program designed by Beat the Streets will provide common sense proposals to address the increased poverty and stress experienced by children of incarcerated parents in Antioch. Utilizing an assessed action plan with a supportive case management approach, Beat the Streets will offer positive parenting, educational, vocational and life skills programs including tutors, mentors, and workshops. Together, these services will provide a foundation of understanding on how to become self-sufficient and to how to utilize community resources when needed. The approach uses monitored outcomes and adjusts services to optimize positive results for each case. Maria Morales, the program director, is responsible for implementing the program and ensuring positive outcomes.

According to Tracy Jones, founder of Beat the Streets, they are honored to be selected by Coco Farms to implement the program for youth of incarcerated parents. The program works with youth in the Antioch community affected by the incarceration epidemic. Partnering with Coco Farms allows Beat the Streets to expand their outreach and commitment in providing resources and support from the beginning with the assurance that the child and their caregivers are receiving the support they need to be successful and healthy.

Beat the Streets main objective is to create long-lasting partnerships with not only the child but also with the parent who is transitioning into parenthood and society. The vision is to ensure that not only the child is successful but the parent is as well. With the financial grant from Coco Farms, Tracy points out, the Beat the Streets team is changing the lives for a positive, stable and productive Antioch community.

The Managing Members of Coco Farms believe that it is critical to the success of Coco that the cannabis experience for Antioch be substantially positive. The Program with Beat the Streets is just one component of Coco's outreach to the community to deliver this result. Good paying jobs is another significant component. Coco employees earn at least $20 per hour and participate in a Health Plan which is mostly funded by the company. Most of Coco's 25 employees are Antioch residents. When the project is complete, there will be approximately 300 employees at the company's 3400 Wilbur Ave location. Contributions to other community programs is another component. Maintaining

an attractive facility to support the City's beautification efforts is another. City leadership encouraged the Managing Members of Coco Farms to develop a cannabis operation in Antioch because it observed the substantially positive impact of Coco's sister company, Rio Vista Farms, in Rio Vista. In Rio Vista, Rio Vista Farms is the largest employer and tax payer. Together with its community outreach efforts, Rio Vista Farms was named the Business of the Year by the Rio Vista Chamber of Commerce.

To discover how you can support the works of Beat the Streets, please visit their website at www.beatthestreatsca.org or contact Tracy or Maria.