Project Description

Yellow Brick Road, Inc. is a new nonprofit agency in the startup phase. It will serve to enhance the lives of children and adolescents, particularly those in out-of-home care. Youth involved in the child welfare system experience many adverse events, including frequent home and school transfers, being separated from many or all family members, and the lack of adequate support and preparation needed for success in adulthood. Yellow Brick Road, Inc. seeks to enhance the lives of youth involved in the child welfare system. It will do this by providing care packages to youth who enter into shelters or residential facilities. Training seminars on new research and best practices will be provided to child care providers, foster parents, and agency directors and staff. Volunteers will be recruited from the community to mentor youth involved in the child welfare system. Finally, Yellow Brick Road, Inc. aims to open an innovative residential facility for youth in care ages 15-18 which will focus on permanency, furthering education, job training and sustaining employment, social connections within the community, and life skills so that youth involved in the child welfare system are empowered to reach their full potential as adults.

Project Description

I had worked in the field of adolescent psychology the year prior to my freshmen year at college, collaborating with members of the Empower Program and the Ophelia Project- both leading girls’ advocacy organizations- at the Girls Leadership Institute. I worked as a counselor in Washington, DC at the Girls Leadership Institute, a residential program that assisted at-risk adolescent females who had been victims of harassment or bullying at their schools. I used my experience working at the Girls Leadership Institute to present an informative and ultimately successful workshop for the Chicago Public School teachers. Since then, I have done volunteer work as a Relational Aggression Consultant for the Chicago Public Schools. Through this, I developed a drama therapy-based program for the intervention and prevention of bullying among girls which has been brought to numerous institutions. The program serves about two schools per semester. The unique curriculum, a combination of art/theatre therapy exercises and emotional strength-based activities is the only one of its kind in the country, and has elicited promising results in behavior changes among girls in various schools and organizations in Illinois.

I have brought this free program to several other institutions, including: Girl Scouts of Chicago, ChildServ, Chicago Communities in Schools, Helping Girls Navigate Adolescence, Teen Living Program and Just Us Girls. The program has impacted over one hundred girls through various venues on a myriad of topics, including bullying, body image, relational aggression, harassment, dating violence, sexual violence, self-injury, sexual orientation, and eating disorders.

Bullying has become one of the biggest problems facing youth today, as it can provoke young people to take harm against themselves, or even others (e.g. School shootings). This program combats this by providing volunteer workers and teachers with the opportunity to become examples for kids who are harassed; role models who will connect and make an impact on children’s lives and relationships. Girls in the Lead offers after-school programs for schools and organizations, as well as parent, teacher, and youth strength-based trainings and workshops.

Project Description

In the Spring of 2005, two students at Person High School in North Carolina committed suicide. Everyone around the community wanted to do something about it, but no one was sure exactly how to do it. Many of the students of the school wanted to create plaques, draw, and have a full memorial for the two students. This is when I stepped up to the challenge and said, "Why don't we create something long term, to prevent this from ever happening again?"
I looked up valuable information from the American Foundation for Suicide prevention, as well as local records. In this rural county, there has been at least one suicide per year since the 1970's, usually silenced by the townspeople to retain the Stepford image of the area. So I had a series of ideas.
1) "Out of the Darkness" March - a silent, candlelit march through Main Street of the area.
2) "Into the Light" Rally - a celebration of life and friendship, with local bands, artists, poets, and speakers, on how suicide or this program has affected them and the community.
3) Peer Training - Teens help other teens in noting the signs of depression and suicide, and working with their peers to prevent it.
4) Teacher Training - Concerned parents and teachers are trained to note signs of depression and unhealthy behaviors, and how to help.
5) A financial planning guide - life insurance does not cover a suicide, and families of the victims are already suffering. Why should they financially suffer too? It is a guide of the options to take in such a situation.
6) Offer a Person County Link to the suicide help line (1-800-273-TALK)

Our first year we saved up $1500, and $1000 of it went to the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention, thereby granting us the link to the suicide help line, as well as the funds for the rally. Money is still being put into the training of the teachers, students, and peers. Since the program started 2 1/2 years ago, we have helped over a hundred troubled teens and there has not been an incidence of suicide between ages 14 - 21, our focused age range.