Wednesday 4:00 - 6:00pm (Registration Required)
Youth ages 12 - 16 years old have an opportunity to meet other youth, share ideas, discuss issues, learn information, and have fun. Activities include crafts, physical activities, games, movies, fitness, and more. Youth are encouraged to share their ideas for future activities.
BNRC SERVE Youth Project
(Social, Education, Recreation, Visioning, and Empathy) Mondays through Fridays (4:00 p.m.- 6:00p.m.)
Saturdays (2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.)
Youth-Many who are designated as "at-risk" - have the opportunity to meet, share ideas, discuss issues, go on field trips, get help with their homework, and get free music lessons. Snacks are provided.
YEAH Project
What is the YEAH Project? Youth Energized and Harmonized, "Yeah" is a project designed to build a community of advocates for peace through educating our youth of today. It hopes to address the issues of stabbings, school violence, discrimination, bullying, and other hate crimes, associated with the youth of today. By dispelling misconceptions and educating youth on how hate crimes affect their lives and the world, awareness can have a great impact on how they choose to deal with these difficult situations. The YEAH Project offers workshops promoting healing, harmony and expression using music/media/drama productions and seminars. The hope is that young people will express their stories of overcoming hate issues and stand together, as a community united in mentoring the next generation of youth experiencing bullying and hate-related issues.
The Purpose of the YEAH Project: The purpose of the Youth, Energized and Harmonized (YEAH) project is to create unity amongst youth, families, schools and corporations in our community. YEAH places emphasis on diversity and therefore focuses on perpetuating acceptance and understanding among all members of our community. The project strives to create harmonizing effect amongst all the institutions of the community, thus aiming to forge solidarity and cohesion amongst all institutions. Through creating a space/platform, which provides youth with continuing management skills, YEAH is able to help youth address their shift, in the community from the position of victim to victor. YEAH's commitment to the youth is to empower them to ensure that they will "never become what they have endured."
Why the YEAH Project is Successful: The YEAH project has been successful because as long as there is hate, there's a need for this project." Unfortunately we know there is hate, thus our community has an obvious NEED for this project. Furthermore, YEAH has a strong understanding of what is taking place in the arena of hate, hate crimes, bullying and the impacts of bullying. Therefore, the project addresses these issues accordingly with the youth. YEAH also understand the arena of multiculturalism and systemic racism. Through the acknowledgement of the existence of this discrimination, the project shall continue to be successful for a long time because of the time invested in developing a structure for longevity. Thus, YEAH has recognized the ongoing necessity for this type of a social peace initiative.
A YEAH Project Success Story: An example of one of YEAH's success stories belongs to female participants, a set of sisters from Hamilton. They came to know of the project through a celebrity partner and decided to partake in the initiative. The girls came to be members of the YEAH Chorus. Through performing the meaningful, reflective anthem, United, the youth's performances have served as an instigator for forging relations with dignified persons in the community. This was the case with the YEAH Chorus' performance of United, at the United Way Gala in January 2008. This experience of understanding, acceptance, love and peace has allowed these particular participants to feel at home, in their age group, for the first time in their lives thus far. These young sisters unfortunately face a lot of racial discrimination in their school, so it is a marvelous observation that their mother says that "this is the first time she's seen them smile amongst others their own age." All the sisters are now much better equipped to deal with the bullying they encounter, as their confidence and esteem has now been boosted to all-new, healthy high. In fact one of the girls, Nataiah, actually built up the courage and faith within herself to utilize her ability and audition for the lead role in the school-play Annie. YEAH is proud to share that she received the role!
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it. -Martin Luther King Jr.
