Connecting Detroit Youth to a Brighter Future

We wish to thank all our GlobalGiving supporters for your contributions and your support. We have used this space over the years to share with you our successes, opportunities, and victories. We are hosting over 200 youth in our summer youth employment program. And we’re coordinating over 20 job placement partners, providing training and support, and troubleshooting the woes of youth who are experiencing their first job.

Every Friday in the summer you will find our Health Wellness and Prevention Staff staffing a table at community fairs hosted by the Detroit Housing Commission. We have opened the doors for families in our subsidized housing communities to sign up for our Strengthening Families 10 -14 program but excitedly word of mouth from previous participants have helped us to generate a waiting list of families eager to participate. We facilitated the ability for the residents to receive free eye exams and glasses when needed along with dental services, blood pressure checks and provided resources for them to learn about safe sleep for babies. We made a difference when the optometrist shared with overwhelming excitement that one of our residents who was technically legally blind exclaimed when he got fitted with glasses for the first time – “Is this what the world looks like?!!!” Our partners with this effort have shared their excitement about being in the communities that we serve.

Our staff presented at the annual CADCA Mid-Year Training in Dallas to extremely positive reviews so much so that they are being asked to share their knowledge on equity and diversity with other coalitions and state health departments. We received recognition by one of our major funders, Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network, for our efforts in saving lives through our Narcan training and distribution efforts. Since 2018 we have provided Narcan training to over 6,000 individuals and have documented over 80 lives saved.

The times continue to be challenging. Our young people are faced with stressors that contribute to depression and anxiety. Vaping and addiction to nicotine is rising among youth. Toddlers and children accessing edible marijuana are ending up in our hospital Emergency Rooms. Adults are often wondering “What do youth have to be so depressed or anxious about?” Our youth are living in a world where every smile or blemish can be instantly broadcast around the world. Access to resources and opportunities that many of us may take for granted is not always as forthcoming for youth and families living in the communities that we serve. Our youth may not always see that there is indeed a light at the end of what is increasingly becoming a long winding tunnel. We see the challenges our youth are facing and have been hit with their devastating outcomes. We lost one of our youths to suicide. Her death is a tragic reminder that we must continue to provide resources, opportunities, support, and understanding to youth we are committed to serve. In many cases these are not always the traditional resources that grants will allocate as allowable expenses. That is why we know the road to success for many of the youth and families that we serve is never paved with gold.

We have an awesome GlobalGiving family. Your kind words and gifts have helped to relieve the burden of providing those nontraditional services and opportunities for our youth and families. Please log onto our GlobalGiving site and support our efforts. Once again, a tremendous thank you to all our supporters and those who have and will support our efforts to connect Detroit youth to brighter futures.

Links:

• The Youth Connection's Website!
• TYCDetroit on Facebook!