YOUTH ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
In partnership with Wayne County Children and Family Services, The Yunion’s Youth Assistance Program (YAP) provides free after-school programming to at-risk youth from the ages of 7-17. Youth have the opportunity to participate in a number of activities, including substance abuse and HIV/STD prevention training, mentoring, individual/group counseling, life skills, tutoring, homework assistance, music and poetic artistry, and martial arts. YAP is designed to assist youth through a holistic approach that may be struggling with issues such as academics, high risk behaviors, family/social interaction, peer pressure, poor decision making, and behavioral problems. A list of our innovative and relational programs are below.
S.W.A.G.
S.W.A.G. is our life skills and prevention program designed to promote the practice of abstinence as an ideal lifestyle for Detroit area youth. An acronym for Students With Awareness and Goals, it empowers youth to foster sustainable, healthy relationships while also reducing risks associated with premature sexual activity (i.e, drugs, alcohol, STDs, unwanted pregnancy). Some of the program objectives are: teach participants relationship skills, resiliency, communication skills, how to resist peer pressure, to examine the role of self-esteem in decision making, goal setting, healthy dating strategies, leadership development, while also encouraging sexually active teens to return to a healthy abstinence lifestyle. To reach the above-mentioned objectives, S.W.A.G. will implement Sex Can Wait, an acclaimed, intensive twelve-week abstinence-training curriculum via weekly 60-minute interactive sessions.
The Cave of Adullam
The Cave of Adullam is our Transformation Training Academy. Its mission is to create young men that are physically conscious and spiritually strong enough to navigate through the pressures of this world without succumbing to their emotions. Through physical training in martial arts, meditation and key life principles, young men are introduced to the root of their unresolved anger, ADHD symptoms, anxieties and fears, while being taught how to boldly confront and conquer them daily with composure. We evaluate each student’s personal growth through individual monitoring, so that all areas of their lives are enriched socially, emotionally, academically, and physically. Students who committed to this system and were consistent in attendance showed significant changes that were sustainable.
PURE
PURE is a 12-week workshop covering topics such as self-esteem, goal setting, media literacy, body imaging, healthy boundaries and relationships, decision making, dating and sexual decision making, and more. PURE encourages young women to discover the beauty of their purpose and celebrate the uniqueness of their identity. The program is designed to reinforce to its participants their value and the value of their gender in such a way that influences them to view themselves and their counterparts in a positive light. PURE is a tool that is meant to deconstruct society’s shallow perspective of women, while rebuilding their worth, in hopes to encourage young women to make life decisions that catapult them into greatness, and steer them away from being “at-risk.”
Keys 2 Life
Keys 2 Life is our evidenced based life skills and music-mentoring program; designed to encourage, educate, and empower youth through key principles in music. We are able to accomplish this mission through relevant principle driven music lessons, engaging discussions, introspective journaling, and individual monitoring. Many people fail to understand the significant role music plays on the attitude and psyche of young minds. A study conducted in 2000 by The College Entrance Examination Board, Princeton, New Jersey, reported that students taking courses in music performance and music appreciation scored 53 points higher on the verbal and 39 points higher on the math SAT than students with no arts participation. Our goal is not just to cultivate youth academically but also to help them apply the necessary self-regulatory skills needed to be successful and overcome the many obstacles in life.
