Living and breathing connectedness
First posted at 16:25GMT on 21/09/08 by Sarah Schulman
Our work on young people is about connectedness. It’s about the relationships young people have to themselves, their families, supportive adults, and the worlds beyond where they live. Most programmes and interventions aim to do something else: to reduce teenage pregnancy, to stop anti-social behavior, to curtail drug use. That’s why a recent article on a multi-generational community in Illinois struck such a nerve. Foster and adoptive families have moved to a neighborhood where rents are also subsidised for the elderly. The elderly serve as surrogate grandparents, opening up their homes and lives to young people who have experienced trauma, insecurity, and really just want to feel a part of a community that cares about them. The research is pretty clear: young people (and adults!) who feel like they matter do better. In fact, the Illinois example is working so well that the US-based Kellogg Foundation recently announced it will bring the model to seven other communities. It’s not just the youth outcomes that are impressive, it’s the elderly members’ renewed feeling of purpose and verve that makes the work notable and worth following…
Great work!
I’m beginning a D.Phil. dissertation on youth and transition. I don’t know if you’re aware of the research on risk and protective factors for youth, much of it summarized by the Social Development model. Basically, it says “bonding” to role models makes the difference. It give some good guidelines for bonding to occur. Also, in the US, the 40 Developmental Assets by the Search Institute has some great ideas that can be applied to families and communities.
My work on youth and transition looks at the most common “risk factor” in Florida, my home state, of “transition and mobility.” The fact that kids don’t connect/bond to the community/school due to so much moving/mobility. My work will be an attempt to equip youth to better deal with changes by addressing the psychological aspects of transition.
Also, an organization I worked for has a program called the Village House that fits some of what you are looking for. It is all about relationships and seeing people as resources, not another building. A volunteer family on a block open their home as a safe house to youth on their street. The organization provides some resources, training, and a weekly visit by a paid staff to work with the youth in the home. That family/home becomes a resource center/safe house for those kids. Most often it is an older person (grandparent) or single mom who volunteers their home. These are primarily in minority communities (black or hispanic). We have about 30 such houses.
I have a lot of thoughts about all of these topics if anyone at Participle is interested in talking.
Terry Roberts
Orlando, Florida, USA
Terry Roberts, 1/11/08, 00:42GMT