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LAYC To Open Residential Facility For Young Women This SpringThe renovation is complete, the contract with DC's Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) has been signed, and this spring, LAYC's third residential facility will open its doors, becoming home to six young women in DC's foster care system.
The six young women, ages 16-21, who will live in the new facility will become the first participants in LAYC's Teen Bridges program, which will help young women who are aging out of foster care build the life skills needed to transition to independent living in the future. When young people age out of foster care, they often attempt to make the transition to independent living with few supports, no mentors and no real understanding of the challenges ahead. Homelessness is a frequent and tragic result. The Teen Bridges program will help to prepare young females to live on their own in the future. Located right next door to LAYC's Art & Media House, and just down the street from LAYC's two residential facilities for homeless and runaway young men, the new facility will be staffed round the clock, providing a safe environment for young women to take the next step to becoming productive young adults. In addition to receiving educational assistance, the young women living in the house will work with a case manager, counselor and career developer to address their needs and build new work and life skills. CFSA will place in the new facility young women who will benefit from a bilingual, culturally sensitive setting and who are ready to move beyond a group home, but either aren't old enough or have not yet developed the skills to live independently. Carlos Vera, LAYC's Director of Social Services, who oversees the organization's many housing programs, said, "This is a very exciting day. There is a great need for housing for Latina young women in the District of Columbia and this new facility will help address that need. LAYC provides a full range of housing programs, from training and licensing Spanish-speaking individuals to become foster care parents, to providing emergency shelter for young men and young women, to offering independent living programs for young men. This new facility is a wonderful addition to our services and builds on what we've learned operating residential facilities during the past 15 years." |
LAYC Youth Testify At City Council Hearing On EducationTwo participants in LAYC’s Leadership Development and Advocacy program were among the DC students who testified before the DC City Council on Saturday, February 10th, as part of the Council’s consideration of Mayor Fenty’s proposal to take control of the city’s schools. Several other LAYC youth attended the hearing. William Idrissi, an honor roll student at Roosevelt High School, testified: "My main concern is unenthusiastic teachers. There are too many teachers who would rather pass everyone with a good grade than to actually teach and grade the students on the curriculum. Some teachers have a policy of passing the students just for showing up.” He continued, "There are too many students who don't do the class work or study and are unprepared for college. This simply sets them up for failure in the future.” William Jackson, who attends Gonzaga, suggested "mandatory parent-teacher conferences with the student present." He also recommended "hiring or encouraging retired teachers or more experienced teachers to help train younger and newer teachers on various methods of teaching." Congratulations to both Williams for participating in the political process and making their voices heard. |
Pancho Gonzalez Youth Tennis Academy To Launch In Nation's CapitalNew Tennis Academy, an Initiative of the Latin American Youth Center, Will Keep Memory of Latino Tennis Great Alive and Expand Access to Tennis for Low-income Immigrant and Minority Youth
Named in honor of the first Hispanic to be the number one tennis player in the world, the Pancho Gonzalez Youth Tennis Academy will provide opportunities for at-risk youth to learn the sport of tennis and to be exposed to the healthy fitness and nutrition habits that come with it. Last summer, the Latin American Youth Center, in partnership with the Washington district of the United States Tennis Association, offered the LAYC Youth Tennis Camp, for boys and girls aged 12-14. The camp taught middle-school students how to play tennis and provided valuable education about the importance of good nutrition and fitness. This year, LAYC is integrating tennis into several of its programs, including AmeriCorps and its after-school programs at Powell Elementary School and MacFarland Middle School. Tennis will be offered in the summer through LAYC’s Summer Enrichment Camps in Wards I and IV. Additionally, LAYC will make scholarships available to youth interested in attending area tennis camps and programs, such as the Tennis Center at College Park (TCCP). Lori Kaplan, Executive Director of the Latin American Youth Center, said, “Our tennis program is really taking off and we’re very excited about the opportunities to introduce this wonderful sport to more and more young people in our community. Many of the young people we work with face significant personal challenges. Educating these youth about some of the challenges Pancho Gonzalez overcame to become one of the best players of all time will be inspiring and motivating. It’s an honor to have our tennis programs identified with a tennis legend, Pancho Gonzalez.” Greg Gonzales, Pancho’s nephew who resides in Phoenix, Arizona, said, “My Uncle, Pancho Gonzalez, was a spectacular tennis player who overcame discrimination to become one of the greatest players who ever played. Pancho was very concerned about getting more Latinos into the game of tennis and I know that he would be excited about this initiative in the nation’s capital to offer Latinos and other minority youth the opportunity to learn and play tennis. I’m very pleased to team with the Latin American Youth Center to bring tennis to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to play the sport.” Mr. Gonzales will serve as the honorary chairman of The Pancho Gonzalez Youth Tennis Academy and will work closely with the Latin American Youth Center on its tennis efforts. LAYC recently received a $20,000 grant from the U.S. Tennis and Education Foundation to help support the 2007 tennis programs. Click here to read more about Pancho Gonzalez. Baseball Season Comes Early To LAYC
LAYC's Upward Bound Director Receives Social Justice Award From Dartmouth College
Holzer received a Martin Luther King Jr. Social Justice Award, which recognizes Dartmouth alumni and current staff, administrators and students who have contributed significantly to peace, civil rights, education, public health, environmental justice or social justice. Click here to read more. LAYC Case Study Looks At Ways To Reconnect Disconnected YouthSixteen percent of 18-24 year olds in the District of Columbia are not working and not attending school. These youth are disconnected from the mainstream, isolated from the habits, responsibilities, and learnings that take place in a job and at school. Without programs and services which reengage these young people, get them back in school, and help them find meaningful jobs, these youth face very a difficult path to becoming productive adults. A new report by the Latin American Youth Center, Reconnecting Disconnected Youth: an LAYC Case Study, explores the factors that contribute to youth becoming disconnected, such as teen pregnancy, involvement in the juvenile system and transitioning out of the foster care system, and identifies some of the challenges that arise and approaches that succeed when working with youth who are at risk for becoming disconnected. The report draws on LAYC’s more than 30 years of experience working with youth who have dropped out of school, whose English language skills make it difficult to succeed in traditional school environments, and whose family situations have presented obstacles to school success. In particular, the report focuses on two charter schools that LAYC has created -- The Next Step Public Charter School and YouthBuild Public Charter School -- and its Workforce Investment and Social Enterprise (WISE) programs. Reconnecting Disconnected Youth: an LAYC Case Study suggests that there are no easy answers, shortcuts or single programs that will quickly and seamlessly reconnect disconnected youth. What’s required, the report finds, is a sequencing of programs, focused on education, but including leadership opportunities, counseling, housing assistance and other key supports. To download a copy of the report, please click here. MMYC's Langley Park Open House Draws Big Crowd
A lot has changed in four years. Will Campos now represents Langley Park, Hyattsville, Chillum, Adelphi and other neighborhoods as the Council Member for Prince George's County Council's 2nd district. And LAYC's Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers (MMYC) is playing a growing role in the lives of Prince George's County's young people and their families. LAYC expanded into Maryland in 2005, creating the Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers. Today, MMYC offers youth development programs and services through two sites in Prince George's county -- its Langley Park office on 7411 Riggs Road and the Center for Educational Partnership, a collaboration with the University of Maryland in Riverdale. It also has a Montgomery County office in Silver Spring. Council Member Campos was among the dozens of people -- community leaders, residents and interested youth -- who turned out on February 5th to celebrate the official opening of MMYC's Langley Park office, which was recently expanded to create a youth drop-in center and to enable GED classes at the site. Click here to read more about one of MMYC’s key initiatives, the SAFER Latinos intervention, a collaboration between MMYC, George Washington University Department of Prevention and Community Health and the Council of Latino Agencies to reduce youth violence in Langley Park. Mai Fernandez Testifies Before Congressional Committee, Describing LAYC's Gang Prevention WorkMai Fernandez, LAYC's Legal and Strategy Director, testified before Congress on February 15th, discussing LAYC's work to combat Latino gang-related violence and to provide young people with a broad range of educational, recreational, leadership and arts alternatives and programs. The hearing, focused on gang interventions that work, was held by the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Fernandez described LAYC's participation in the Gang Intervention Partnership (GIP), a comprehensive initiative to reduce Latino gang-related violence in DC's Columbia Heights/Shaw neighborhoods that was created in the summer of 2003, in response to a spree of Latino gang-related murders. A recent independent evaluation of the GIP found that it has dramatically reduced Latino gang-related violence in the District of Columbia. Click here to read Mai's testimony. Learning and Evaluation Division Shares LAYC's 2006 Evaluation HighlightsA new report from LAYC's Learning and Evaluation Division highlights key outcomes achieved by several LAYC programs and provides a demographic breakdown of youth served through LAYC in FY 2006. Created in 2005, the Learning and Evaluation group seeks to answer three basic questions for each program at the youth center:
The 2006 Evaluation Highlights look at selected LAYC programs across five categories: Education; Juvenile Justice Services; Health and Wellness; Housing Services; and Youth Engagement. The report also contains outcome information on programs that LAYC offers to parents and other adults in the community. Please click here to read the report. The LAYC Family of Organizations is a network of youth centers, schools, and social enterprises with a shared commitment to helping youth become successful and happy young adults, with the skills they need to succeed educationally, professionally and personally. For more information, please go to www.layc-dc.org. |
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The beautiful lavender row house is the only bilingual residential facility for young women in the District of Columbia.
The Latin American Youth Center (LAYC), building on its successful 2006 summer tennis camp, will offer tennis opportunities year-round in 2007 to low-income immigrant and minority youth in the District of Columbia through the newly created Pancho Gonzalez Youth Tennis Academy.
Opening Day isn't until April 2nd. But baseball fever was in the air in late January when Washington Nationals Manager Manny Acta and two of his players, centerfielder Nook Logan and pitcher Mike O'Connor, visited LAYC, talking baseball, taking questions and signing autographs. 
Paul Holzer, who has worked with the Latin American Youth Center since 2002 and who currently directs the center's Upward Bound program, was honored recently by Dartmouth College for his leadership and commitment to social justice.
When Will Campos first heard about the Latin American Youth Center, back in 2003, he thought, "We've got to get them into the county." At the time, Campos was Hispanic Liaison to Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson.