They started with a weekend at Camp Jewell and finished by giving away $2,000!

Since 1990, over $50,000 has been allocated to Valley non profits through the Youth Leadership venture grants. These grants are aimed at helping to fund new and/or expanding programs that serve the needs of Valley youth.  In March, the members of the program reviewed proposals and determined which requests would be funded.

According to Colleen Holt, Youth Leadership President and a senior at Derby High School, “Valley United Way’s Youth Leadership Program once again has had a successful allocations process.  As we sat around our board table at our March meeting, we all realized how difficult the allocations process really was.  After dividing into small groups and interviewing the nonprofit organizations, we all wished to give our organization as much money as we could.  After hearing of all the organizations and their need, we wished we had more money to allocate so we could help as many people in the community as possible.  It did not take long to realize that there are so many organizations that need financial aid and trying to determine where to allocate our funds took much time and discussion”. Colleen concluded, “In the end I believe we made the appropriate decisions.  It is very important for all of the Youth Leaders to understand the functions and workings of nonprofit organizations.  Through this process we widened our views on the community and learned more about nonprofit organizations and the huge impact they have on the community”.

All year the Youth Leaders prepared for this very task at their monthly meetings.  They have been trained in personal leadership; proper forms of etiquette while planning and interviewing the various organizations and the necessary skill  building  that will make them aware of their communities and how to become involved and make a difference. 

This year, $2,000 was available to allocate to programs they felt most worthwhile and met the needs of youth in the community determined by their annual needs assessment.  The following areas were identified as of critical concern to teens in the Valley: on-line predators, teen sex, drugs and alcohol, gambling and stress.

The Youth Leadership members approved the following programs to receive venture grant funding:

·         Seymour High School/Oxford High School – Take a Stand Day:   Awarded $200.

 At their senior assembly a mock card crash takes place as a result of drunk driving. The funds given will be used towards bringing in a helicopter to fly in professionals to do the make up to create an actual crash.

·         The Umbrella, a program of Birmingham Group Health Services:  Awarded $750 for the reproduction of a booklet for middle school students dealing with relationship abuse, safety planning, how abuse begins, education about dating relationships and breaking up. Also included in the booklet will be information about temporary restraining orders now available for teens as well as information about what to do when in a dating violence relationship. The booklet was designed to promote healthy relationships and prevent dating abuse. Through this booklet/program, the hope is that students will begin to rethink their present philosophy about healthy relationships and begin to recognize the signs of teen dating violence and hot it interferes with the context of their emotional development and future stability.

·         Valley Substance Abuse Action Council, a program of Birmingham Group Health Services: Awarded $500 to implement the curriculum “It’s Party Time”, an innovative program created by a school resource officer in Georgia to liven up traditional anti-addiction lectures taught in classrooms. VSAAC will implement this hands on curriculum in Valley middle schools. The curriculum is an eight-week board games-style program that teaches the negative and financial consequences of substance use and abuse. What makes the curriculum unique is the at the game’s “realistic qualities” make it stick well in the minds of the children who go through the course. The game is life like and really teaches the kids how an addiction controls a person’s life. The game is like a life simulator. Students will complete a pre and post test which will allow VSAAC to evaluate if new knowledge has been gained. Tin addition small focus groups will be held six months after the intervention to see if the knowledge has been utilized.. VSAAC also conduct bi-annual student surveys in which they can view trend data to view long term outcomes.

·          Parent Child Resource Center: Awarded $550 to fund supplies for an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) which operates after school, three hours per day, and five days per week. The program is designed for youth with serious emotional and behavioral problems at risk of hospitalization and or residential placement. The program also serves as a “step down” for children returning from those higher levels of care. PCRC operates three separate IOP groups, one each for young children, latency age children and adolescents age 13-17. Each group is conducted by a Clinician and a Clinical Assistant. The children are engaged in activities and discussions about different aspects of their lives and their social and emotional functioning, i.e. getting along with peers, appropriate behavior in school, managing emotions, communicating with friends and family and taking responsibility for actions. One afternoon each week, children and their families participate in multi-family group where all family members talk bout getting along at home, how to be supportive of the children in the IOP program while encouraging their responsible behaviors,  how to manage difficult behaviors, etc. Funds will be used for art supplies, games and other material and activities used to engage children such as appropriate videos, games, books and activities for adolescents.

The Youth Leadership Program is made possible through the generous support of the Raymond P. Lavietes Foundation which provides core funding.

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