EMPOWERING YOUTH & FAMILIES OUTREACH
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Mission Statement
Empowering Youth and Families Outreach mission is to make a lifelong impact in the lives of youth by offering multifaceted programs that raises up resilient youth and empowering them to achieve their dreams.
About This Cause
EYFO facilitates youth leadership outreach programs to youth and their families and provides year-round literacy /leadership programs to low-income at-risk youth in the South End of Seattle. Since 2001, EYFO has served over 5,000 families who have participated in our various programs. Our educational literacy program is offered to youth who are the most at risk. Our program has supported many youth who live below the poverty level in, kinship care, or single parent homes with little adult supervision. Many of the students we serve are low-income single parent households, are homeless, live in foster care/ kinship care or have parents that are incarcerated. EYFO provides a safe environment for these youth to retreat to. Our literacy program allows us to impact youth who often are doing poorly in school. EYFO facilitates youth leadership outreach programs to youth and their families, and provides year round literacy /leadership programs to low-income at-risk youth in the South End of Seattle. Our mission is to make a lifelong impact in the lives of youth by offering multifaceted programs that raise up resilient youth and empowers them to achieve thier dreams. Our summer program offer in-person, 8-week Summer Leadership Institute, which supports the academic, social-emotional, and leadership development of youth aged 4-14. Our Summer Leadership Institute is intended to equip youth of color with the confidence and self-awareness to distinguish themselves as leaders both inside and outside of the classroom. Our program prioritizes social connections among young people and consists of morning academic support, youth-led activities in the afternoon, weekly field trips, and daily physical enrichment activities, including dance, step, and sports. Our summer program aims to help prevent summer learning loss and help students progress towards standards within their current grade level while also supporting students with confidence and positive cultural identity development through activities that center on connection and youth leadership. For six weeks, students will engage in 2 hours of daily academic instruction, 2 hours of daily enrichment activities (including one weekly field trip), 1 hour of choice time, and weekly career exploration activities. This year’s Summer Literacy Program theme was "My Life is Under Construction.” Weekly social-emotional focuses will be on conflict resolution, goal setting, effective communication, navigating mistakes, and self-awareness. The focus areas of academic instruction are reading, math and STEM-focused. During the first week of the program, teachers will conduct a pre-assessment to determine the targeted needs of their students. These tests will inform academic instruction and curriculum, with those below grade level receiving 30 minutes of targeted reading support. Our instruction takes a project-based approach, helping youth apply skills and concepts to solve real-world problems. Eighty percent of students are expected to meet grade level on focus standards and/or show progress toward approaching standards based on their summer learning. In addition to academics, youth engage in prosocial activities through a variety of enrichment activities. Enrichment activities are structured to promote student academic growth and cultivate other skills that support learning, innovation, and the development of confidence. These activities include field trips, career day speakers, group time, talent shows, and enrichment classes. Field trips are geared toward experiential learning, knowledge building, and fun. Field trips include visits to the Museum of Flight, MoPop, Seattle Aquarium, Chihuly Glass Museum, Woodland Park Zoo, and Pacific Science Center. During field trips, youth bond over shared experiences. Career Day speakers expose students to the real-world application of academic skills. Additionally, they expose students to professions they have often never heard of or considered. Group time helps us build community and connection between students and helps them develop self-confidence. During group time, they collaborate to solve problems, lead and facilitate songs and/or games, and learn a weekly inspirational quote with an accompanying theme linked to the summer’s topic of self-development. EYFO’s Got Talent is our summer talent show. This weekly actively fosters a sense of trust between participants as students have a safe space to display their gifts and talents before an audience of their peers. As students step up and lead and perform before their peers, they cultivate trust in a safe environment, which further bonds them and enables them to strengthen social connections. Over the course of the summer, students have two choice classes that they remain in for the summer, which enables them to bond with their classmates. These classes include cooking, boating, nature exploration, arts and crafts, hip hop dance, step, sports, swimming, robotics, golf and DIY. Students will showcase their learning at the end of the summer at a site-wide End of the Summer Celebration. Parents and families will come to see what their students learned, receive student work, and take hometake-home photographs documenting their student’s summer. Unstructured free time provides opportunities for youth to connect and bond with their peers over shared interests. We also use cohort-style teams for crazy competitions, enabling youth to cultivate new relationships and bonds throughout the 6-weeks as they participate with their teams in friendly competitions. They bond with their peers and the staff, who become their point people. Other program offerings: EYFO Youth Entrepreneurs EYFO Youth Entrepreneurs cultivates the entrepreneurial leadership skills of youth by providing hands on experience operating an arts-based business. Youth are taught how to run a successful business as a team, selling art products, and clothing created by them. Youth are engaged in healthy leadership development, in addition to career and higher education planning support promotes long term economic independence. We will train students on how to create, launch, and promote their business. Students engaged in our program will earn 90% of all profit raised ,10% will be donated to charity. In 2022 students chose Vision of Togetherness Ministries in Uganda During our retreat students will set goals for the up-and-coming year as well as taking a look at the previous year. Program: • Students gain hands on experience in learning how to run a business as well as become an independent business owner • Student/Parent will open bank account at Verity Credit Union once they earn $ • Attend Meetings including mandatory annual student retreat • Parent Involvement (i.e., participate in vendor events, help market, and promote your child’s business, open their bank account, attend meetings as requested.) • Student must have an interest in the Arts • Students must have an interest in business or owning a business • Students are paid a 90% profit of all sales after expenses are deducted 10% goes back into the community and 70% goes into an EYFO account to help us sustain this program. • Students receive a $15-$25 visa gift card/stipend for all meetings attended • Students engage in listening sessions/discussions on topics that are per College and Career Readiness CEO Program Description Empowering Youth and Families’ Cop Every Opp Program is committed to counteracting achievement statistics for youth of color by introducing them to opportunities that will increase the possibility for future success. CEO teaches youth that they are the Chief Executive Officer of their future's and encourages them to “Cop Every Opp”. We operate on the simple premise that if youth are given the opportunity to succeed, they will. CEO supports youth of color in the following 4 ways 1. Awareness CEO keeps youth and their parents informed of college, scholarship, and career preparation opportunities throughout the year through bi-monthly newsletters. Additionally, CEO trains youth on how to set up scholarship profiles and search for opportunities independently. CEO has an opportunity specialist who diligently seeks out opportunities available within the state 2. Guidance and Support Currently, CEO holds 1:1 Senior Support Sessions in which youth receive individualized assistance as well as hands on coaching through the college admission and financial aid process. During these sessions, we work with seniors on creating a deadlines calendar, getting their personal statement completed, and timely submission of college and scholarship applications. Currently we are only meeting with seniors virtually. 3. Removal of Barriers CEO actively seeks to remove ALL barriers to participation through providing advocacy, transportation, meals, as well as covering participation/application fees for our participants. In this last year EYFO has supported youth in achieving their dreams through paying college application fees, as well as program participation fees. 4. Foster their hope in Future Possibilities While we have had to adapt due to the unprecedented time we find ourselves in, typically, CEO regularly takes youth on outings meant to help them to begin thinking about their futures. This past school year CEO helped youth register and attend the National College Fair, the National Black College Expo, as well as Young Gifted and Black at the University of Washington. Additionally, Each year CEO takes up to 20 youth of color on an all-expense paid West Coast College Tour, East Coast Tour, or Southern California tour where youth were able to visit several colleges. Currently, CEO youth receive a quarterly calendar with virtual future focused events.