WORCESTER YOUTH CENTER INC
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Mission Statement
Opened in 1994 by youth and youth advocates, following a high-profile incident between youth and police, Worcester Youth Center (WYC) is a non-profit agency, distinctive because it is free and welcomes any youth between the ages of 14-24 who is looking to move his or her life forward. WYC’s mission is “to provide a place where young people can build lasting, positive change in their lives.” WYC attracts youth whose challenges may be beyond the capacity of other structured programs in the community to address adequately. Youth come to the Center because they understand it to be safe, welcoming, and responsive to their individual needs. WYC’s goals are that youth will: • Be motivated to do well academically and will be actively engaged in learning and invested in school success. • Have necessary skills to successfully obtain and maintain employment. • Constructively use their time while developing a positive identity and increased sense of social responsibility. • Develop a healthy sense of personal power and identify their roles within the community to help foster a sense of purpose and a positive view of the future. • Develop the skills to make positive change in their behaviors, resist negative pressures, and resolve conflicts personally. WYC uses an asset-based Youth Development Model to address the serious issues faced by low-income youth, such as violence, substance abuse, parenthood, gang affiliation, low educational levels, and unemployment. Any of these issues impact the ability of youth to sort out their lives without support; few receive that support at home. The programs address the root causes of issues faced by at-risk youth, such as poverty, alienation, and inaccessibility of needed services. WYC celebrates the incremental steps that the participants make as they move forward to adulthood.
About This Cause
Worcester Youth Center offers multiple programs and services under one roof: • Academic Support: The Academic Support Program is one of the most important programs at WYC; without a high school diploma or the equivalent, youth have little chance to earn a living wage. WYC’s academic support activities target adolescents and young adults who need to improve educational outcomes by staying in high school, obtaining an equivalency diploma, or entering post-secondary education and training. Connecting disconnected and at-risk youth to educational opportunity, as well as Worcester’s economic engine, contributes to the health and well-being of the community at large. Worcester Youth Center’s academic support programming consists of Basic Skills (BS), offering support to youth who test at or below the 8th grade academic level on the Test for Adult Basic Education (TABE). For youth who test at or above the 8th grade academic level on the TABE, students are supported in the High School Equivalency (HSE) program, which prepares them for the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET). • Career Preparation: Work Preparation helps youth to develop a framework for being industrious and productive in future employment. The Work Preparation program is in line with the Commonwealth Corporation’s format, curriculum, and best practices. Participants receive 20 hours of Work Readiness Training; a career assessment process with personal goals; and completion of a work portfolio. Programs include: Work Readiness Training, Paid and Unpaid Internships, Summer Jobs, Job Placement, and Follow-up. The program operates year-round and individuals are able to enter the program at any time. • Health, Recreation, and Positive Social Interaction: WYC provides formal and informal programming in the areas of health, recreation, and positive socialization. These programs are designed to be engaging, holistic, and relevant to participants. Participants can learn healthy lifestyle choices through the Healthy Cooking, Dance, Gardening, or Peer Education programs. Programs like the Shannon and Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) have social health activities embedded in the model to help reduce youth violence and gang involvement. Other programs, like Teen Circle, address issues facing young teen girls such as bullying. • Creative Expression and Leadership: WYC provides opportunities for youth to participate in arts and leadership programs which cover a range of interests—from visual arts and creative writing, to music and dance. There are both formal and informal opportunities for youth to participate. These opportunities have the components of Creative Youth Development programs—dynamic arts and leadership programs which promote skill development, while providing a supportive and nurturing environment which encourages social/emotional development. For the formal arts programming, WYC partners with the Massachusetts Cultural Council to offer YouthReach arts programming. This program offers significant activities for those seeking an outlet to unleash their creative potential through collaborations with the Worcester Art Museum. These programs are designed to be a holistic offering for some of the City’s most disadvantaged and at-risk youth. For the youth who attend the Center, finding a suite of services available gives them an opportunity to get their needs met “where they are at.” These programs give youth the opportunity to develop creative, leadership, educational, vocational, and health skills. WYC is unique in the City of Worcester in five crucial ways: • WYC’s drop-in center is open to all adolescents in Worcester, without membership criteria or attendance restrictions; however, the target audience is from Worcester’s poorest neighborhoods. • Membership and programs are free to the youth who attend. WYC offers disconnected youth the opportunity to participate in the drop-in center and programs without attendance or membership fees which may exacerbate or contribute to their financial burdens. • WYC recognizes that the youth who benefit from its program offerings may find themselves in life circumstances which cause them to stop out of the program for a time (for example, incarceration, childcare, etc.). WYC works to re-engage with these youth, helps to remove barriers when possible, and offers them the opportunity to “pick up where they left off” in the programs they were participating in. • While the Center welcomes youth ages 14-24, WYC is unique in engaging the 18-24 segment of the population. While research suggests that human brains do not reach maturity until approximately the age of 25, there are few developmental programs targeted to youth 18-24, a crucial time before they move into adulthood. • These attributes put WYC in the position to engage some of Worcester’s most at-risk and disengaged youth—those who are involved in, or associate with, gangs—to make and meet personal goals related to education and employment. WYC currently conducts extensive community outreach to Worcester’s most vulnerable and at-risk youth. Outreach efforts focus on developing and maintaining positive relationships; connecting youth with needed services; and encouraging formal or informal participation in WYC’s program or other appropriate youth program. In addition to at-risk and gang-involved youth, WYC targets outreach, programs, and services to disconnected female youth who face the same environmental and familial risk factors as their male peers; who may be victims and/or perpetrators of violence; and who may have associations with gangs/gang members. A safe community, and positive health outcomes associated with it, is a priority outlined in the Greater Worcester Community Health Assessment. Connecting young women to services which provide medical care and increase educational, employment, and leadership opportunities, contributes to a safer city, decreased violence, increased public safety, and positive health outcomes.