Connecting Detroit Youth to a Brighter Future

Thank you to all our GlobalGiving supporters for your past support and contributions! As we informed you in our last report, the building in which we were leasing space for close to 15 years was forced to close. This left us with no choice but to pack up our offices (what a daunting challenge that was!) and find some storage facilities to hold our desks, cabinets, chairs, etc. while we worked from home, continued our programming for youth and their families, and found a new home.

Shortly before the new year began, we found a fantastic office space that allowed us to remain on the east side of Detroit (where most of the youth and families we serve are located) and continue our life-changing programs with a new training space and computer lab. We’re now 2 months in and the moving-in process is nearly complete! We’ve already hosted two orientations, three trainings, and gotten all of our services transferred over and running (internet and phones).

What has made the move easier is the support of our major funders and partners who have helped us continue meeting with youth and families. We are especially grateful for your donations on GlobalGiving, which have helped us purchase necessary items (network routers and switches, new desks for staff whose old desks were built into our office space, and additional equipment for new staff). We can’t thank our supporters and donors enough for their kindness and help! THANK YOU!

While processing our office move, we also continued our programming and got into the spirit of “New year, new me” by starting our I2D2 Obesity Prevention training for middle school students at Fisher Magnet Lower Academy on the east side. We signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Principal of the school in January and started our training in February to teach kids the importance of exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and limiting sugary drinks and screen time.

Each week we work with approximately 70 students and they’re doing a fantastic job learning about eating enough fruits and vegetables, and the benefits of an active lifestyle. Evaluations of our lessons each week show an improvement in knowledge gained as well as behavior change in terms of their diet and exercise. It is vitally important that we keep our youth healthy and on the right track to live fit and fun adult lives.

With the beginning of spring also comes the planning and preparation for our Summer Youth Employment Programs. This summer we will be training and placing into paid summer internship almost 200 students! In addition to their 20 hour/week summer jobs, youth will also learn employability skills (resume writing, how to interview well, professional etiquette, etc.) and, through a grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, youth will also go on field trips to experience Michigan’s fantastic outdoor recreation opportunities! In past summers, youth have gone camping at Wilderness State Park (while also helping to build and maintain picnic tables and trails that benefits all the park’s visitors), trained on a high ropes/low ropes course, and experienced ziplining and kayaking. After our camping trip, we even got to take our students to Mackinac Island for a quick day trip! For many of our students in the program, this is the first time they’re experiencing “Pure Michigan” and the first time receiving a paycheck. Our summer jobs program is an invaluable learning experience for our young people, and they get to earn some money along the way!

For the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program, our other youth summer employment program, students are placed with a contracted worksite in the city and gain experience learning a multitude of different jobs – from working with small non-profit agencies to helping a working farm! TYC works with Connect Detroit to offer this opportunity to our youth and has been a partner to make summer jobs happen for Detroit teens for over a decade! This year we are busy recruiting 150 young people for this opportunity. If you know of any Detroit youth looking for a paid summer job, please have them contact us through our website at www.theyouthconnection.org. In response to the needs of youth in the program, TYC will also be offering Mental Health First Aid training to students this summer to help teach youth about taking care of their mental health along with their physical health.

We would like to thank our GlobalGiving family once again for your support throughout the years. Your support has provided us with many necessary resources to help us make sure our focus remains on connecting our youth to a brighter future! Thank you!

Links:

• TYC Detroit's Website
• TYC Detroit on Facebook!
• TYC Detroit on Instagram!