Partner News
Youth Services
The Listening Project Research by Youth about Youth Will Inform Local Youth Serving Organizations
With the collaboration of many and funding from the Thomas Thompson Trust and the Holt Foundation, Youth Services spearheaded this qualitative study over the last twelve months as a way to uncover the needs of at-risk youth as well as capture their ideas about possible solutions. In an interesting twist on a standard research format, Youth Services trained youth who themselves live in difficult circumstances to interview 20 peers throughout Windham County. Each youth interviewer was paired with an adult partner. This research on the needs of local youth is ready to help shape the agendas of 40 social and health service organizations that support children and young adults in Windham County. The conclusions from the year-long interview process called The Listening Project was announced at a presentation attended by these groups and other interested public on Thursday, June 4 at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. For more information on the study, call Youth Services at (802) 257-0361 or visit www.youthservicesinc.org/Listening Project.
Boys and Girls Club:
The Drop In Night at Boys and Girls Club is named, "The Junction"
Guilford Church "Guilford Church Sends Youth to Serve Others" by Nanci Leitch, Special to the Reformer
.
Scraping paint and picking up trash to renovate a building may not sound like a fun way for area teens to spend their winter break to most people. However, if you can wear shorts, go to the beach in your free time and make friends from another culture, it is closer to the opportunity of a lifetime. For seventeen area young people, eight adult chaperones, and Pastor Lise Sparrow, their February trip to St. Croix, Virgin Islands has been an eye-opening and soul-searching adventure. There they helped renovate the local Boys & Girls Club building, volunteered at an orphanage, painted part of a church building and experienced island culture and history during their week-long stay. The Guilford Church youth group, led by Pastor Lise Sparrow, organized this trip through a member of the congregation. Brattleboro obstetrician Dr. Cheri Brodhurst grew up on St. Croix and visits there regularly with her 14-year old son, Jon Erik. Although Jon Erik visits the island each year with his mother he said that this time, it felt "more rewarding." The 14-year old Brodhurst explained, "These are my people as much as my community in Vermont is and it feels good to know I’m now doing what I can to help them."
The 84-square mile island of St. Croix has been a U.S. Territory since 1917 and it is where Christopher Columbus landed on his second trip to the New World. The island’s population, known as Crucians, consists of 53,000 residents whose parents or grandparents likely immigrated there from Denmark, France, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands or are descendents of the slave trade in the region. "This trip has been a way for our teens to see and appreciate the diversity of the United States, while experiencing and pondering the heritage of the slave trade and the influence of immigrants from Europe, America, Africa and other parts of the Caribbean on one small island," Pastor Lise Sparrow explained.
The diverse group of seventeen teens, who hail from middle schools in Brattleboro, Guilford, Dummerston, Putney as well as Brattleboro Union High School have been surprised about how close they’ve become in a short amount of time. "We’re together 24 hours a day and they really feel like my best friends," said Lena Mazel from Guilford. "I hope when we get back to Vermont we can stay close," Mazel said. In addition to forging friendships with their fellow Vermonters, they came to know local teens in Christiansted who helped them in their service projects there during the weekend and shared meals and conversation with them weeknights after school.
"Working alongside them helps me to know what kind of people live on this island, how much we have in common with them," said Galen Finnerty of Dummerston. "Everyone has been incredibly friendly and welcoming," he said.
"After all our work was done it was fun to play pick up basketball games between the St. Croix teens and us Vermont kids," said Sam Green of Brattleboro.
Although St. Croix has the reputation of a paradise, the group saw the continued impact of Hurricane Hugo on many homes as they walked to their project sites, as well as the results of a high rate of poverty and violence on the island. According to Julie Landreneau, executive director of the Christensted Boys and Girls Club, the statistics even startled her. The USVI Kids Count Data Book, which provides information on child well-being in the US Virgin Islands cites, sites the rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide or suicide for ages 15-19 as having gone up 58.3 percent on St. Croix since 2001. The percentage of teens not attending school and not working for ages 16-19 has increased 169.3% in the past eight years. The present teen birth rate is 48.5 % and the percentage of children in single female households is 40%. "It’s hell in paradise," observed chaperone Dave Dupuis of Putney who works for Youth Services and the Boys & Girls Club in Brattleboro. "I’m the saddest I’ve ever felt for people," he said of the serious addiction, crime and prostitution he has observed while in St. Croix.
"Looking around I really feel like there are some real needs here," observed Robert Baskett of Putney. "It feels good doing something for someone else."
The group witnessed wealth on the island as well as great deprivation. "One night we took what seemed like a thirty second boat ride out to a neighboring island and left it all behind," recalled Emma Majonen, a recent BUHS graduate from Guilford. "Where we are staying at the Boys & Girls Club it is impossible to ignore the abandoned buildings all around us. We wake to the sound of gun shots in the night, and a homeless man lives in a ruin just across from the entrance to the Boys & Girls Club," Majonen said. "At home I never quite get around to volunteering, but after this experience when I get back to Vermont I’m committed to doing more of it."
The Boys & Girls Club in St. Croix temporarily suspended services in December in order to reorganize, put together a new board of directors, repair the building and raise funds to cover a loss of local government funding. With no employees at the moment, Landreneau welcomed the group’s efforts to prepare the facility for an April reopening date. "They’ve been instrumental in getting things done," Landreneau said.
"I’m just surprised how much fun it has been," said Daniel Fooks of Brattleboro, who was the youngest member of the group. "It hasn’t felt like work; just talking and working together."
According to Pastor Lise Sparrow, the trip far exceeded her expectations. "We had several tangible and significant jobs to complete that will make a real difference to the people of St. Croix," she said. "Our youth were able to see that what they did made a difference." For more information about Guilford Community Church and their youth programs, visit www.guilfordchurch.org or call (802) 257-0994.
Summer Youth Employment program at the Guilford Church
Families First in Southern Vermont has received an Economic Stimulus Grant for Summer Youth Employment. This program services at-risk youth and is working with the Guilford Church. They are hiring for a coordinator and 3 staff to assist with projects. Youth (ages 12 – 24) will be paid for community projects such as gardening, painting, stacking wood and cooking. The program runs for 6 weeks and is 9am to 3 pm M-F.
New England Network
Community Youth Mappers, Summer, 2009
Part of Youth ImPact’s mission is to respond to problems in Windham County that young people have themselves identified: nothing to do, poor relations with adults, not enough jobs, not enough low-cost activities, etc.
To that end, NEN is employing and supervising several small "youth mapping" teams throughout the county. In order to identify resources and opportunities that exist in their community, youth "mappers" will canvass various agencies and businesses in Windham County, searching for free or low-cost activities and free food.
Using this data collection strategy, young people will identify a host of resources that may not be found in traditional directories. Youth contact various businesses and agencies and conduct interviews, gathering the kind of information that they are interested in learning about, and describing opportunities from a youth perspective.
Once the data is collected, they will enter the data into a computer program so that it can be used and distributed to youth and adults in the county. After being trained in oral and written communication techniques, mappers will develop their own script in order to talk with businesses in ways that will be both effective and professional. They will also learn appropriate techniques to handle both the negative and positive responses they might get during their canvassing.
We expect that mappers will gain important experience practicing the skills of interviewing, data gathering and analysis, research and technical writing skills, computer skills, map reading, presentation skills and conflict resolution. They will gain confidence in their ability to communicate with adults and gain a sense of purpose and power in working to make changes in their community.
We will be conducting this work throughout the Summer, 2009. Some "mappers" will work for course credit and others will receive small cash stipends.
The Listening Project Research by Youth about Youth Will Inform Local Youth Serving Organizations
With the collaboration of many and funding from the Thomas Thompson Trust and the Holt Foundation, Youth Services spearheaded this qualitative study over the last twelve months as a way to uncover the needs of at-risk youth as well as capture their ideas about possible solutions. In an interesting twist on a standard research format, Youth Services trained youth who themselves live in difficult circumstances to interview 20 peers throughout Windham County. Each youth interviewer was paired with an adult partner. This research on the needs of local youth is ready to help shape the agendas of 40 social and health service organizations that support children and young adults in Windham County. The conclusions from the year-long interview process called The Listening Project was announced at a presentation attended by these groups and other interested public on Thursday, June 4 at the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro. For more information on the study, call Youth Services at (802) 257-0361 or visit www.youthservicesinc.org/Listening Project.
Boys and Girls Club:
The Drop In Night at Boys and Girls Club is named, "The Junction"
Guilford Church "Guilford Church Sends Youth to Serve Others" by Nanci Leitch, Special to the Reformer
.
Scraping paint and picking up trash to renovate a building may not sound like a fun way for area teens to spend their winter break to most people. However, if you can wear shorts, go to the beach in your free time and make friends from another culture, it is closer to the opportunity of a lifetime. For seventeen area young people, eight adult chaperones, and Pastor Lise Sparrow, their February trip to St. Croix, Virgin Islands has been an eye-opening and soul-searching adventure. There they helped renovate the local Boys & Girls Club building, volunteered at an orphanage, painted part of a church building and experienced island culture and history during their week-long stay. The Guilford Church youth group, led by Pastor Lise Sparrow, organized this trip through a member of the congregation. Brattleboro obstetrician Dr. Cheri Brodhurst grew up on St. Croix and visits there regularly with her 14-year old son, Jon Erik. Although Jon Erik visits the island each year with his mother he said that this time, it felt "more rewarding." The 14-year old Brodhurst explained, "These are my people as much as my community in Vermont is and it feels good to know I’m now doing what I can to help them."
The 84-square mile island of St. Croix has been a U.S. Territory since 1917 and it is where Christopher Columbus landed on his second trip to the New World. The island’s population, known as Crucians, consists of 53,000 residents whose parents or grandparents likely immigrated there from Denmark, France, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands or are descendents of the slave trade in the region. "This trip has been a way for our teens to see and appreciate the diversity of the United States, while experiencing and pondering the heritage of the slave trade and the influence of immigrants from Europe, America, Africa and other parts of the Caribbean on one small island," Pastor Lise Sparrow explained.
The diverse group of seventeen teens, who hail from middle schools in Brattleboro, Guilford, Dummerston, Putney as well as Brattleboro Union High School have been surprised about how close they’ve become in a short amount of time. "We’re together 24 hours a day and they really feel like my best friends," said Lena Mazel from Guilford. "I hope when we get back to Vermont we can stay close," Mazel said. In addition to forging friendships with their fellow Vermonters, they came to know local teens in Christiansted who helped them in their service projects there during the weekend and shared meals and conversation with them weeknights after school.
"Working alongside them helps me to know what kind of people live on this island, how much we have in common with them," said Galen Finnerty of Dummerston. "Everyone has been incredibly friendly and welcoming," he said.
"After all our work was done it was fun to play pick up basketball games between the St. Croix teens and us Vermont kids," said Sam Green of Brattleboro.
Although St. Croix has the reputation of a paradise, the group saw the continued impact of Hurricane Hugo on many homes as they walked to their project sites, as well as the results of a high rate of poverty and violence on the island. According to Julie Landreneau, executive director of the Christensted Boys and Girls Club, the statistics even startled her. The USVI Kids Count Data Book, which provides information on child well-being in the US Virgin Islands cites, sites the rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide or suicide for ages 15-19 as having gone up 58.3 percent on St. Croix since 2001. The percentage of teens not attending school and not working for ages 16-19 has increased 169.3% in the past eight years. The present teen birth rate is 48.5 % and the percentage of children in single female households is 40%. "It’s hell in paradise," observed chaperone Dave Dupuis of Putney who works for Youth Services and the Boys & Girls Club in Brattleboro. "I’m the saddest I’ve ever felt for people," he said of the serious addiction, crime and prostitution he has observed while in St. Croix.
"Looking around I really feel like there are some real needs here," observed Robert Baskett of Putney. "It feels good doing something for someone else."
The group witnessed wealth on the island as well as great deprivation. "One night we took what seemed like a thirty second boat ride out to a neighboring island and left it all behind," recalled Emma Majonen, a recent BUHS graduate from Guilford. "Where we are staying at the Boys & Girls Club it is impossible to ignore the abandoned buildings all around us. We wake to the sound of gun shots in the night, and a homeless man lives in a ruin just across from the entrance to the Boys & Girls Club," Majonen said. "At home I never quite get around to volunteering, but after this experience when I get back to Vermont I’m committed to doing more of it."
The Boys & Girls Club in St. Croix temporarily suspended services in December in order to reorganize, put together a new board of directors, repair the building and raise funds to cover a loss of local government funding. With no employees at the moment, Landreneau welcomed the group’s efforts to prepare the facility for an April reopening date. "They’ve been instrumental in getting things done," Landreneau said.
"I’m just surprised how much fun it has been," said Daniel Fooks of Brattleboro, who was the youngest member of the group. "It hasn’t felt like work; just talking and working together."
According to Pastor Lise Sparrow, the trip far exceeded her expectations. "We had several tangible and significant jobs to complete that will make a real difference to the people of St. Croix," she said. "Our youth were able to see that what they did made a difference." For more information about Guilford Community Church and their youth programs, visit www.guilfordchurch.org or call (802) 257-0994.
Summer Youth Employment program at the Guilford Church
Families First in Southern Vermont has received an Economic Stimulus Grant for Summer Youth Employment. This program services at-risk youth and is working with the Guilford Church. They are hiring for a coordinator and 3 staff to assist with projects. Youth (ages 12 – 24) will be paid for community projects such as gardening, painting, stacking wood and cooking. The program runs for 6 weeks and is 9am to 3 pm M-F.
New England Network
Community Youth Mappers, Summer, 2009
Part of Youth ImPact’s mission is to respond to problems in Windham County that young people have themselves identified: nothing to do, poor relations with adults, not enough jobs, not enough low-cost activities, etc.
To that end, NEN is employing and supervising several small "youth mapping" teams throughout the county. In order to identify resources and opportunities that exist in their community, youth "mappers" will canvass various agencies and businesses in Windham County, searching for free or low-cost activities and free food.
Using this data collection strategy, young people will identify a host of resources that may not be found in traditional directories. Youth contact various businesses and agencies and conduct interviews, gathering the kind of information that they are interested in learning about, and describing opportunities from a youth perspective.
Once the data is collected, they will enter the data into a computer program so that it can be used and distributed to youth and adults in the county. After being trained in oral and written communication techniques, mappers will develop their own script in order to talk with businesses in ways that will be both effective and professional. They will also learn appropriate techniques to handle both the negative and positive responses they might get during their canvassing.
We expect that mappers will gain important experience practicing the skills of interviewing, data gathering and analysis, research and technical writing skills, computer skills, map reading, presentation skills and conflict resolution. They will gain confidence in their ability to communicate with adults and gain a sense of purpose and power in working to make changes in their community.
We will be conducting this work throughout the Summer, 2009. Some "mappers" will work for course credit and others will receive small cash stipends.