Connecting Detroit Youth to a Brighter Future

Summertime at The Youth Connection is one of our busiest times of the year. While we are still maintaining all CDC guidelines for gatherings during this pandemic, we have over 200 youth currently working in PAID summer internships through our partners at Connect Detroit and the Michigan DNR. These internships are a mix of virtual and in-person (socially distanced) jobs that youth can complete. These first work experiences are so crucial to our teenagers’ development and understanding of financial literacy, work ethic, responsibility, and community that we are very excited to say that over 1,500 young people in our community got their “first job” through The Youth Connection over the years. Do you remember your first job? Do you remember finally getting that first paycheck? Because of your support, the young men and women in The Youth Connection Career Academies are experiencing that right now and will continue to learn, grow, and have fun while making a few bucks the rest of the summer.

But there’s another side to The Youth Connection summer programming that we think is at the heart of every youth’s summer – Fun and Family!

To that end, this summer TYC hosted a series of events to kick-off and promote a “Safe, Fit, and Fun Summer” for families in our community. In May we hosted a Kickoff event that featured our partners from the Detroit Police and Health Departments, the Detroit Pistons, Aberdeen Bike, and the Love Detroit Prevention Coalition.

At this event we featured bike safety information, information about all our youth summer employment opportunities, basketballs featuring the Detroit Pistons logo, gun locks (for home safety), and we also gave away (or sold for $25) over 60 bikes for youth who currently didn’t own a bike of their own. The bikes, which were donated from one of our partners and Board of Directors Mike Casey of Aberdeen Bikes, included mountain bikes from Trek, Specialized, and Cannondale that usually retail between $200 and $500. All the youth were so excited that they were now able to cruise around their neighborhood on their bikes and participate in a healthy, free, and effective form of exercise while enjoying their summer with their friends. We also promoted a community bike ride through our neighborhood and a great day at a local City Recreation Center this summer.

“Enjoying the beautiful weather, we have in Michigan during the summer while finding a healthy, safe, and free form of exercise for youth and their families is a win-win for our families and for our obesity prevention efforts,” said Dr. Grenae Dudley, President and CEO of The Youth Connection. “We cannot thank our partner agencies and departments along with our GlobalGiving family enough for their support that makes these events possible!”

In addition to the fun, we are also focusing on family during the summer through the launch of our Strengthening Families 10-14 program. Over 25 families have attended our trainings this summer that focus on family communication, setting rules and goals, peer pressure refusal, parenting skills, reducing stress in families, and decreasing conflict. The sessions (held one evening per week for 7 weeks), cover all of these topics and more while providing time for a family meal, separate parent and youth sessions with trained facilitators, and plenty of time for both parents and their kids to come together at the end and talk about what they’ve learned and their personal experiences.

Through a discussion with parents and youth that have been through the program and a desire to provide the best programming in Michigan for families, The Youth Connection recently hosted a listening session facilitated by The Detroit Health Department where we spoke with parents and their children who have been through the program to see how we can improve and what they thought would make the session even better.

During the session, The Youth Connection learned so much about what the participants really thought was valuable about our Strengthening Families 10-14 sessions and where we could improve. This feedback is critical to TYC as it falls directly in our philosophy of “Nothing About Us, Without Us!” that guides our programming decisions. After all, who would know best about what is really helpful than the people whom you are trying to help?

The Listening session, and the lessons we learned from it, are all part of a continuous cycle of Quality Improvement that help make our programs the best programs for youth and their families in metropolitan Detroit!

Again, we cannot thank you enough for your support that makes all of our activities possible – whether it’s purchasing a bike helmet for a youth who needs it or providing dollars to support staff training and development that allows us to host cutting-edge trainings like the Strengthening Families 10-14 program. We appreciate your donation that allows us to go the extra mile for the families in our community and change lives, one very important young person at a time, in our neighborhood!

Links:

• The Youth Connection's Website!
• TYCDetroit on Facebook!
• TYCDetroit on Twitter!

In the midst of this pandemic the challenges are real and at times seem overwhelming. It’s like running the marathon in a hail storm and wondering will you even see the finish line. Our youth are in this race to win despite it all. Thanks to the amazing support we receive from our GlobalGiving Family and allies like KBP Foods our youth are crossing the finish line in glorious fashion. We have shared the amazing journey on one of our youth who was part of The Youth Connection Career Academies, Laronta. This exceptional young man continues to beat the odds and make us proud. In 2016 we told you about Laronta a 17 year old young man who walked into our lobby after seeing a sign that said The Youth Connection. The Youth Connection Career Academies Director, Ms. Hill was in the lobby when he arrived and he asked her about the program. Sheepishly, he asked if he could volunteer with us. When asked why he wanted to volunteer he confessed that he was ordered by the courts to complete community service. He stated he did not live far from our office and if we would please help him. Of course you know we did.

Laronta came every day and we fell in love with his tenacity and commitment. We had just launched our Ticket to Float program and recommended him to be one of four youth to be hired by the National Park Service River Raisin National Battlefield Park through their youth conservation corps. Over 45 miles from Detroit he was terrified. Laronta was uncomfortable being out of his element and surroundings and begged to stay at The Youth Connection for his summer internship. We said no!

Laronta learned to kayak and taught kayaking to urban youth on the Huron River. He earned certifications in water rescue, CPR and First Aid. He was trained as an interpreter for the Ticket to Float program and helped design the curriculum. He presented to over 1,000 youth and their chaperones on the War of 1812, the fur trade, the use of silicone in the automotive industry and the history of the Wyandotte Indians of the Anderdon Nation. As a result of our work with him and his engagement in the program, he was featured on a Time Warner special regarding the program and water quality.

Near the end of his summer internship he had to return to court. The Judge was so impressed with how he spent his summer he received early release from his probation and was given accolades for his accomplishments. We worked with him to reach out to his brother in Maine who could provide him with more guidance and support. The challenge was to get him there. The money he earned over the summer allowed him to pay back his court ordered restitution and purchase a bus ticket to Maine. Our GlobalGiving donations helped us to send him off with a bang. TYC staff surprised him at our office with luggage, a new winter coat, a camera, snacks to eat on the bus and a lot of love. Staff that did not make it to the office sendoff were at the bus station when he arrived and we all shared a tearful heartfelt goodbye.

Laronta’s dream was to get his high school diploma. He had dropped out of school at 15 and never graduated. He said, “I don’t want a GED. I want to graduate with a diploma. I want to be somebody.” He graduated from High School receving his High School Diploma and subsequently enrolled in Job Corp for electrical engineering.

Fast forward to today five years later to the rest of the story. Laronta is the proud father of a baby girl and now owns his own electrical company.

The good news does not end here. COVID-19 has altered many of our plans and we had to find new ways to stay connected to our youth and families. Addressing their anxieties and depression, cheering them on virtually as they zone out of the zoom meetings. Dropping off food and PPE on their porches and celebrating their graduation milestone in a drive by caravan of TYC staff. But wait it gets better! Did you hear the shouts of excitement coming from Detroit when Ms. Hill announced that 16 of our youth in the midst of the Pandemic completed a 12 week Pre Apprentice Carpentry training program earning their OSHA 30 certification and are waiting to hear confirmation of their State of Michigan Contractor/Supervisor Asbestos Abatement License? As students of continuous learning they are gearing up for the next leg of the race to earn their NCCER (National Center for Construction Education & Research) certification. Above it all they crossed the finish line as full time employees!

Thank you to our GlobalGiving Family for keeping the faith with us. Each of your donations serve as a beacon in the storm showing our youth that they can cross that finish line in the face of incredible odds and can honestly say “I AM Somebody!”

Links:

• The Youth Connection's Website!
• TYCDetroit on Facebook!
• TYCDetroit on Twitter!