Alternative Youth Development Programs AmeriCorps This fiscal year marked YouthBuild‐Lawrence’s 21st year of participation in the AmeriCorps Program. This program offered YouthBuild‐Lawrence students the opportunity to complete service hours and earn an AmeriCorps education award towards post‐secondary education. During FY’16, YouthBuild‐Lawrence continued the Service Learning Thursdays program, and YouthBuild‐Lawrence students completed 8,408 service hours at different sites in the Merrimack Valley. Emmaus House Emmaus House programs span emergency shelters, affordable housing, homelessness prevention, education and job training. Each week, YBL students prep and cook a meal for approximately 34 homeless people. Students plan the meal as well as coordinate with Emmaus House staff in order to have food ready for the next week. The Salvation Army The Salvation Army provides an array of social services from providing food for the hungry, assistance for the disabled, outreach to the elderly and ill, clothing and shelter to the homeless and opportunities for underprivileged children. Each Thursday, YBL students fill boxes with items for people who come in looking for food. YBL also restocks shelves and sorts items by category. As people sign in, they are greeted by our students who help them with their boxed food. National Night Out Every year in cities nationwide, National Night Out events promote community and safety awareness. YouthBuild‐Lawrence hosted a site for the General Donovan Neighborhood. Prior to this well‐attended event, students designed flyers and posters for the yearly block party, made games for the neighborhood kids, including a miniature putting golf green, and set up, cleaned and prepped and cooked food. Three years ago my path in life looked very different. I dropped out of high school in my teens and spent four years incarcerated for auto theft. After completing my last term at the Middleton House of Corrections, I was working for a shipping company and looking for a lifestyle change. In 2015, I joined the YouthBuild– Lawrence AmeriCorps program to complete my High School Equivalency Test (HiSET) and explore what other opportunities were available to me. I never imagined how the AmeriCorps program would change my life. I completed over 1,000 hours of community service and gained valuable experience working at sites like Windrush Farms and Mary Immaculate Health Care Services. Today I continue to give back to my community working for Childrens’ Friend and Family Services as a Peer Mentor/ Certified Peer Specialist, and I am preparing to continue my education. EDDIE COMPLETED OVER 1,000 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE WITH YOUTHBUILD-LAWRENCE, MORE THAN DOUBLE THE EXPECTED AMOUNT FOR A YOUTHBUILD STUDENT. LFDEF, INC FY’2015‐2016 ANNUAL REPORT PAGE 6
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