Prevention program keeps children headed down right path
Sandra Washington of Destrehan is the coordinator of the Youth Empowerment Project’s Community Based Prevention Program. She’s also acts as a mentor for youths in the program.
Not only does she teach those youths, but she represents an example of what one can accomplish through perseverance.
In February of 2003, the lives of Washington’s four children, Rachel, Samantha, Allen Jr. and Alandra, were lost in an automobile accident. The four were on their way home from a church gathering when something caused the vehicle to go out of control and into a canal.
Washington’s drive to help others began before she and her husband, Allen, suffered that tragedy. She earned her degree in social work and said that long before the accident, the vocation of helping others “chose her.”
The accident intensified that desire to help.
“I want to show that no matter what, you can be a positive light for others to look to,” Washington said. “You can move forward. I want people to see me, know what I’ve been through, and know that there’s hope, no matter what you’ve been through. I want to be a reflection of hope.”
The Youth Empowerment Project, she said, has afforded her that chance. Its Community Based Prevention Program was created in 2012 as a means to provide strong mentorship to youth ages 8-14 considered at risk of becoming engaged in the juvenile justice system. Those who participate receive one-on-one mentoring, participate in field trips, receive tutoring and take part in groups discussing subjects like anger management. The youths may also receive individual mental health counseling as needed.
“Sometimes our groups are full of eight and nine year olds,” said Darrin McCall, Director of Programs for the Youth Empowerment Project. “Sometimes it’s mostly 13 to 14. It depends. The hope is that the program is preventive. We want to intervene before a child ever starts down the wrong path.”
The program got off the ground in part thanks to financial support from the Greater New Orleans Foundation Coastal Communities Fund. When those funds were exhausted, however, YEP continued to receive financial backing for the program, this time via St. Charles Parish judges and the United Way of St. Charles.
That’s a clear example that those outside the program see the benefit to its continued presence. McCall said he and others involved with the program have received great overall feedback. But the biggest endorsement, he believes, comes from the youths themselves.
“They don’t want to leave the program when it’s time,” McCall said. “Our job, at that point, is to get these kids to a place where they feel more confident standing on their own.”
One person who says she can attest is 14-year-old Yelah Moses of Luling, who is currently participating in the program.
“Since I’ve joined the program I’ve been encouraged to do many, many things,” she said. “We participate in so many different activities that teach us while having fun [at the same time]. YEP has even gotten me into playing sports again. Not just that, YEP rewards us for doing well [in school] which encourages me to try even harder. “The mentors are great and very loving people who I want to keep around at all times. Also, YEP helps me to keep my mom proud.”
That proud mother echoed those sentiments.
“It has really helped me and my family deal with different issues in a totally different way,” said Wendy Moses. “Ms. Sandra, Mr. John and Ms. Cotton do a great job with my kids and I have seen a total change in my children’s attitudes and behavior. They took my kids under their wing like they were their own.”
“We have a stronger bond than ever. The program not only helped my kids, I have also benefited from it too. I learned how to talk to my kids in a [more positive way] and take a different approach sometimes.”
Washington said a big part of the program is introducing youths to a different world than they’re accustomed.“We take kids to eat different places, places they’ve never been,” Washington said. “We’re there to provide support for them in the classroom. We want to expose them to new things and help teach them life skills.
“When you see them make that connection and begin to develop and apply those life skills, it’s the most rewarding thing.”Washington said she knows not all youths will accept and apply the lessons learned at first, or maybe even at all. But she said that when it clicks for even just one or two children in a group, it reinforces her desire to do this work.
“It’s not for money,” she said. “It’s work of the heart. We get frustrated sometimes, when we see kids maybe not grasping it yet. We trust that if we keep moving forward, it’ll catch on.
“Many of us have families as support, but the more support you have, the better off you are. I know that because of what I’ve gone through.”
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