FIFTH WARD ENRICHMENT PROGRAM
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Mission Statement
Urban Enrichment Institute - UEI (formerly Fifth Ward Enrichment Program) is designed to empower boys to become responsible men and productive members of their families and community.
About This Cause
The Urban Enrichment Institute (UEI) formerly Fifth Ward Enrichment Program (FWEP) is designed to empower boys to become responsible men and productive members of their families and community. UEI began operation in May 1984 as a pilot project of the Urban Affairs Corporation and was founded in one of Houston’s more economically distressed neighborhoods. The program was conceived as a community-based, primary intervention and was housed at, and engaged students of, the former E.O. Smith Middle School. Funded initially by the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health as a component program to Urban Affairs’ innovative program for teen mothers, UEI was one of the first programs in the nation to engage young black men in prevention strategies for teen pregnancies. The pilot program was also unique in that all staff having contact with these male students was composed of adult, African-American males. Today, UEI is a community-based youth development and empowerment program designed to pre-empt negative environmental influences on adolescent inner-city males. An all-male project-staff interacts daily, throughout the regular school year and an eight-week summer program, with boys who are primarily from single-parent, female-headed households. These African American and Hispanic/Latino youth, who are at risk of becoming contributors to major social problems (school dropouts, chemical dependency, criminal offenders, high teen pregnancy rates), are engaged in a system of positive reinforcement, mentoring, counseling, tutoring, education enhancements and life-changing enrichment activities. UEI's holistic approach to youth development is a unique program providing sustained mentoring with a comprehensive, after-school program that is comprised of activities and services that guide youth towards building self-esteem, developing self-efficacies, making valued decisions, knowledge of post-secondary education opportunities, and graduating from high school. An all-male project staff of Site Coordinators, supported by part-time male college students (Peer Mentors), case manage and interact daily with 200 boys, ages 12 to 19, at six Fifth Ward area schools in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) and are recognized by the administration, faculty, and parents as the on-campus mentors for UEI students. These Site Coordinators/mentors coordinate after-school, weekend, and summer activities that expand the youths’ knowledge and redirect their energies onto positive pathways. These academic and social activities include tutoring, academic guidance, life skills workshops, guest speakers, entrepreneurial training, experiential learning labs, field trips, leadership retreats, community service, civic engagement projects, cultural events and parent-child activities. UEI's service area is the Greater Fifth Ward community of Houston, Harris County, Texas and its surrounding neighborhoods, which include Kashmere Gardens, Denver Harbor, Trinity Gardens and Frenchtown, all within zip codes 77020, 77026, and 77028. The 2010 census reports that the demographics for this historic, predominantly African-American area continues to change as Hispanic residents now comprise more than 40% of the community. The School-based project is UEI's core program for intervention and engagement of male students and provides multiple components with an array of services and activities, informal and non-formal classroom settings, during and after school: • Sustained mentoring, individual and group counseling, home visits and small group outings, facilitated and chaperoned by positive and caring adult males, are essential to forging positive and trusting relationships among youth. These sustained interactions allow youth to witness and experience “normal male behavior” and produce role models to copy and emulate. A licensed therapist is retained, along with a mental health referral system, for the more troubled and disaffected youth. These same services are available and extended to parents and families when needed, or when requested by the parent. • Life Management Skills workshops, such as conflict resolution, anger management, abstinence-only education, interpersonal skills development, etiquette, appropriate dress and speech, and alcohol/drug/tobacco abuse are weekly events aimed at increasing knowledge, self-awareness and deterring negative attitudes and risk-taking behaviors, all the while promoting self-esteem, personal health and hygiene, sound decision making, and leadership skills development. • The Teen Enterprise Center (TEC) is an extension of the after-school program and provides entrepreneurial related activities and training in photography, music arts, computer website design, graphic arts production, and filmmaking. Additional life-skill workshops (financial literacy, "School-to-Work/College/Careers", "The Game of Real Life") and evidence-based curriculums are provided that continually enhance personal skills development and introduce needed tools for maintaining a healthy life-style while incorporating business principles into everyday living. Other enhanced, educational components and activities of the TEC include robotics, the Chess Club, the Book Club, and fraternal team-dancing. • Enhanced individual tutoring sessions, small group tutorials and a weekly homework room are provided for those students who are deficient in reading and math skills. Ethnic and racial literacy is rooted in UEI’s holistic approach to youth development and provides many of the themes for the academic competitions held during the school year (i.e., Black History Month, Hispanic Heroes and Heritage) and the Book Club reading assignments. UEI is one of seven United Way affiliated agencies participating in the after-school education initiative focused on increasing the academic success of middle and high school youth. Related program data, common outcomes and indicators of academic progress are evaluated by the Texas Education Research Center, Texas A&M University, in accordance with this initiative. • Community service and civic engagement projects provide community-building activities, create team-building exercises, and expose youth to experiential learning and continuous interactions with Houston's culturally-diverse community. Service projects are performed with the Houston Food Bank, Star of Hope, The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation, Medical Bridges, City of Houston health fairs, the Bridge Over Troubled Waters, neighborhood clean-up projects, area community centers, and many other Harris County locations and agencies. • Parent and family support activities include periodic parent orientations, parenting skills workshops, instructional seminars on drugs, sex, and violence, field trips, parent-child events (mother and son date nights), and holiday celebrations. These activities are aimed at providing parents with additional tools that will strengthen family cohesion, build continual support for the youth participant, and help sustain the youth’s attendance at school and his participation in UEI. • Exciting enrichment activities, such as Theater Under the Stars, college tours, professional and college sporting events, the symphony orchestra, Moody Gardens, field trips to Washington D.C. and New York, museum visits, fellowship services at area churches, and a host of other evening and weekend activities add to the youths' experiential learning and his continued exposure to the world “outside of Fifth Ward”. The clinical implications of what UEI does well is captured in its credo: "High-risk behaviors can be changed with use of a theory-based, youth development model that offers positive male role models and constructive alternatives for negative behavior".