Invest in the Future of 20 New Youth Leaders!

We hope you've found moments of grace and space for peace in these last few months. During this time, our program facilitators, schools, students, and communities have shown incredible resilience, creativity, and strength in the face of uncertainty. It's because of your support that we can fund and deliver the kinds of programs that are essential to our students and communities' health and well-being right now. We are so thankful for you today, and every day. 

Our programs have continued online throughout the fall and winter, reaching hundreds of students, teachers, and community members through our Fly By Light and Mental Health programming, now serving 15 schools throughout Washington, D.C.

Highlights from the fourth quarter of 2020 include:

• OCU Programs: One Common Unity has continued with virtual programming this quarter expanding our reach to the community. 
• Fly By Light Programming: Fly By Light facilitators have implemented weekly after-school programming to 116 youth in virtual spaces. The program sites include Organizing Troupe, Performance Troupe, Washington Institute of Dance, School Without Walls HS, Perry Street Prep MS and Roosevelt HS. Additionally, FBL facilitators have implemented weekly in-school programmingto 31 youth at Perry Street Prep MS and Roosevelt HS. 
• Fly By Light Online: Throughout the fall, facilitators hosted community virtual FBL events: “Mindful Art” with Tyler Grigsby and “Drop Everything and Dance” with Johnee Wilson continued, reaching over 100 community members across 75 hours of online programming, participants of all ages and from across the country tuned in for these special events.
• Fly By Light National Training: The final session of the 2020 National Fly By Light Training was on October 30th, with 20 participants completing the full 40+hour training and 28 participants completing over 20 hours of the training. 
• Mental Health Programming: In Quarter 4 - OCU clinicians provided  564 therapeutic sessions for a total of 537.25 hours of direct therapy.  In addition, our licensed therapists provided 356 consultation sessions at their respective school sites. These sessions incorporated Tier 1 and Tier 2 services. 
• Funding Update: This quarter, we were so honored to receive grants from SoundExchange and Pepco in partnership with Rock Creek Conservancy.  In addition, we raised $1,263 during a special Election Night Vigil on November 2nd. 

In addition, we’re excited to spend the winter on some of the following exciting initiatives: 

• Parenting By Light: Facilitators continue to host monthly workshops focused on various topics to equip parents with SEL skills. The workshops are delivered in both English and Spanish, and so far discussions have been on self-care, mindfulness, and holiday gift giving and cultural traditions. 

• Community Conversations: We launched a monthly community conversations series aimed at raising awareness about important issues to our community.  The inaugural conversation in the series will be HERstory: Processing Life Experiences Through The Lens of Black Women and Teens. Stay tuned for our next conversation, open to all.  

• 2021 National Fly By Light Training: Join us this summer for our National Fly By Light training. New dates are June 21-24 2021 as well as on consecutive Fridays between July 9-30 2021. Our award-winning program model and curriculum includes after-school and in-school workshops, overnight nature immersion retreats, annual city-wide showcases, professional development for teachers, parents, and other school administrators, and youth-led social justice campaigns.

On behalf of our youth and staff, thank you for your support of One Common Unity. Because of you, we are able to continue building healthy, safe, and resilient communities through the transformative power of education and the arts. We couldn't do any of this without you, and we are so grateful for your support!