It was just named Visalia ‘Nonprofit of the Year.’ Now it’s laying off 81 employees

A decades-old nonprofit, which just last year earned top honors from the Visalia Chamber of Commerce, is set to lose dozens of employees in June.

According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN notice) filed earlier this month, ProYouth will permanently lay off 81 employees effective June 5.

WARN notices are required for organizations that employee more than 75 people and apply to layoffs affecting more than 50, or in instances of a facility closure or relocation of operations.

Per the notice, the layoffs will affect employees assigned to Visalia Unified School District and come “amid programmatic and funding changes” that impact the organization’s elementary and middle school programs.

ProYouth offers homework assistance, tutoring, and other after school activities, for free, at schools throughout Tulare and Kings counties

“Staff reductions will occur in a one-time phase,” the notice reads, “based on program needs and site closures.”

The organization will lose 24 program leaders, 26 site directors and 32 employees working under its system of support inclusion.

What is ProYouth?

PorYouth began in 1991 as a community-based partnership known as Visalians For A Gang Free Community. Within three years, it had earned its nonprofit status and was expanding its services amid growing gang tensions within the city. That included the killing of a 35-year-old optician and father of two who was shot in crossfire between two rival gangs.

By the late ’90s, the nonprofit was running its signature HEART program (Health, Enrichment, Academics, Recreation, Teamwork) at three Visalia schools.

The nonprofit now runs programs for more than “15,000 children in nearly 50 schools, in six districts in two counties,” according to a message from its CEO on its website. “We serve over 700,000 fresh meals annually, and manage a multi-million-dollar budget, and we do all this with an amazing staff of over 350 people.”

According to Propublica’s NonProfit Explorer, the organization brought in $33,853,608 of revenue in 2024.

The organization has earned its honors over the years.

In 2016, the state’s Department of Education gave the Distinguished After School Health Program Award to more than a dozen ProYouth site locations. The Visalia Chamber of Commerce honored ProYouth as its Nonprofit of the Year at its annual awards ceremony last June.

Massive layoffs in 2024

But this isn’t the first time ProYouth has undergone layoffs.

In 2024, the nonprofit filed a WARN notice for 247 employees, including so-called school enrichment specialists. Those layoffs also came as Visalia Unified School District reduced ProYouth’s services at its school sites, according to a story in The Fresno Bee.

Multiple messages for comment from the organization were not immediately returned.