New Website!

Youth Voice, One Vision finally has an official website and within this website, is a tab explaining my 'iVY: Initiatives for Vigilant Youth' project. I might be updating there a little bit more, so please check out the website. The URL is www.yvovrochester.com. As for a check up, my project is going great and I am making great progress.

An Update

Things are really moving along. I had the first officer's meeting on Saturday, Oct. 21 and everything went great. Right now, we are planning the annual "Steppin' Up" conference for Nov. 18 and we are thinking of doing a food drive to benefit Rochesterian's in need. We have a lot coming up in the near future.

As for my individual project, we are really hitting things off. This week I am hoping to organize my plan of attack and then meet with the council in November for possible solutions.

A professional website in the works for the council so stay posted!

Officer's Meeting

I just thought I would announce that I was elected 'County Chair' for Youth Voice, One Vision Council and our first meeting is on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006 at Nazareth College.

As for my project, I am looking forward to meeting the other officers. I am waiting to meet the new officers at our first meeting to set out the plans for the year and see where I can take my project! Don't worry, a timeline and budget are on the way!

An Update!

Update:

1) There is now a blog that is called "Rochester News Affecting the Youth". This blog was solely created to show the news that Rochester youth are affected by. You can view this blog by clicking on the link to the left.

2) There is now a blog for the Youth Voice, One Vision Youth Council. This blog can be viewed by clicking on the link to the left.

3) I am running for county chair of the Rochester City-County Youth Council.

Initial Introductory Meeting

The monthly meeting of the Rochester City Youth Council is on August 23, 2006 from 3pm-5pm at 85 Adams Street, Rochester, NY. Anyone interested in working with the youth of Rochester should attend! You can call me if you need any other information at (585)944-5129.

Rochester Youth Initiatives

Vision statement:
To foster understanding between the suburban youth of Rochester and the inner-city youth thereby making (1) the two groups aware of the problems facing the other; and through this dialogue, (2) seek solutions to some of these problems.

Need:
Upon talking to Mayor Robert Duffy, Mr. Victor Saunders, Director of Pathways to Peace, and Mrs. Nancy Johns-Price, Program Development Specialist with the Bureau of Recreation & Youth Services, City of Rochester, they all mentioned that if we are to make Rochester a better place, the suburban youth and the inner-city youth need to better understand each other, collaborate, and help resolve the problems facing them. This initiative is all the more urgent since the city is losing its appeal for many, due to the unresolved issues that the youth encounter.

Process:
My plan is to become a member of the Rochester City Youth Council to better understand the needs and the problems that the suburban and the inner-city youth face. Subsequently, I plan on introducing many of the youth from the inner-city schools, Brighton, Pittsford, Rush-Henrietta, Webster, and other nearby school districts, into the council so that they can understand these problems better and promote city wide involvement in their own schools. With this level of involvement, new programs to help the youth can be planned and executed.

Goals:
- To make the youth more aware of the problems facing Rochester
- To have representatives from at least 5 different schools become a part of the Rochester City Youth Council (Inner-City Schools, Brighton, Pittsford, Rush Henrietta, Webster)
- To get as many people/ organizations involved as possible in this project (Pathways to Peace, City Recreation & Parks, …)
- To thereby resolve some of the problems Rochester youth face, for example, help decrease the high school drop out rate and increase the number of students getting their GED/ high school diplomas