LIFE DIRECTIONS PROGRAMS SERVE AT-RISK YOUNG ADULTS FROM 13 TO 35

Life Directions staff in partnership with peer leaders provide three interconnected programs that network the social capitol of adolescents and the adults who support them.

The Peer Motivation Program operates in the high school bringing together two completely different types of students. The students explore issues they confront, see ways to be responsible for their future, discuss common challenges and consider consequences to actions.

The Peer Mentor Program is an intergenerational after school program. Achieving 10th-11th graders from who completed the Peer Motivation Program are recruited and trained as Peer Mentors. After school they mentor 8th graders from a nearby grammar school to prepare them for a positive transition to High School. Peer Mentors receive support, encouragement and guidance from trained Adult Coaches from both neighborhood and business communities.

The Neighborhood Enrichment Program inspires young adults 18 to 35 years and adult volunteers over age 35, to “break the cycle of violence in the community” through peer outreach and organizing intergenerational events with youth involved in the Peer Motivation and Peer Mentor programs.

Focus Family supports youth and families in the grip of “Trauma” and other risk factors due to the impact of COVID-19 crisis. Focus Family provides intervention services and resources to lead a purposeful life direction from access education or to meaningful enrichment for children and their families, and access to lifelong educational opportunities, regardless of age.

The program aims to improve progression for youth and adults through training with the integration of social emotional learning and trauma-informed care with an explicit focus on equity. By strengthening relationships; developing social emotional learning skills, including cultural fluency; and using restorative preventions, our model creates a positive climate for learning and addresses the root causes of disproportionality. Focus Family delivers the non-clinical preventive services for those with low risk needs.

The quality of relationship between ethnically diverse youth and young adults is enriched throughout the year, in both school and neighborhood settings through:

  • Service Learning;
  • Community Service Projects;
  • Leadership Training and Summits
  • Intergenerational Gatherings focused on Community Building

By leading group interactions and teaching the values they have learned peer leaders develop the necessary soft skills important to success in life and work.