What follows is a guest blog post written by CeCe Horbat, the Diversity, Equity, & Multiculturalism Coordinator at Spectrum.

On May 6th, 2017, we hosted the Youth Leadership Conference at Champlain College. Created by our Multicultural Youth Program, the conference is designed for youth to have fun and learn, while also providing the support they need to build successful leadership skills.

To make it happen, we collaborated with many amazing community partners, including Northwest Counseling Support Services; Vermont Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health; Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront; Burlington Community and Economic Development Office; and Champlain College.

Our Youth Advisory Committee designed the whole conference, choosing everything from the t-shirt design to the workshops, from our amazing keynote speaker, Rebecca Eun Mi Haslam (Vermont’s Teacher of the Year), to our Snapchat geotag for the day! In order for the event to be a success, it had to be by youth and for youth.

Catherine, left, of the Burlington Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront; and Rebecca Eun Mi Haslam

Almost 100 youth, ages 14-24, participated in the day, learning about themselves and each other. Haslam kicked off the day by sending us the important message: “Know your why, and remember that you are the only one in control of where you’re headed.”

Some of the day’s most popular workshops were led by youth: “LGBTQ Intersectionality,” “Conversations about Racism,” “Breaking Down Cultural Barriers,” and “Spoken Book.” And many other community partners, like the Fletcher Free Library, The Peace and Justice Center, Opportunities Credit Union, and Parents and Youth for Change led fun, engaging workshops.

After lunch, youth explored over 30 organizations, service providers and post-secondary opportunities in a resource fair. Special thanks to ACLU, Vermont Tech, Vermont Works for Women, “I am Vermont, Too,” and Vermont Adult Learning, just to name a few.

In order for the event to be a success, it had to be by youth and for youth.

We finished the jam-packed day by reading a Letter of Support from Senator Bernie Sanders (though he wasn’t able to make it!) and holding a raffle drawing for prizes to local businesses. To our amazing community raffle prize partners like Old Spokes Home, City Market, YMCA, Burlington Electric, the staff at TJMaxx and many, many more, we thank you for your amazing support.

The conference was successful and empowering because of the support of people like you. We’re looking forward to an even bigger and better conference in 2018. In the meantime, you can find us on Facebook to see photos and stay up-to-date on how you are helping. Huge thanks to all who believe in our youth!

CeCe Horbat, left, and Emmajane Hoffman, of the Multicultural Youth Program.

CeCe Horbat is the Diversity, Equity and Multiculturalism Coordinator at Spectrum, as well as the AmeriCorps member serving in our Multicultural Youth Program.

The post Know Your “Why”: Youth Build Leadership Skills at Spring Conference appeared first on Spectrum Youth & Family Services.

Emma Michalowski has been working as an intern in our supported housing programs since August 2016. She’s a senior at Champlain College working toward her BS in psychology with a minor in global studies. She’s interested in both mental health counseling and global mental health.

Emma researched and created an ongoing life-skills training program for youth in our emergency shelter, The Landing, and our transitional housing. Here are her reflections:

As part of my senior capstone project, I developed a life skills training program for the youth in Spectrum’s supported housing.

The Game of Life helped youth practice their money management skills. Individuals were given a set income from which they created a monthly budget that included everything they needed or wanted. These costs included housing and utilities, Internet access, insurance and transportation, and clothing, as well as non-necessity items such as a new television, a pet, and any entertainment costs.

Each youth had to spin the Wheel of Fortune/Doom to see what surprise financial event they had to incorporate in their planning. The results were either beneficial, like a birthday present, which added $10/month, or detrimental, such as having one’s hours cut, which subtracted $250/month. Some of these events could’ve been avoided by purchasing various insurance policies, just like in real life!

After the completing their budget sheet, each youth sat with a credit counselor to discuss how their budgeting went. For individuals who went over budget, they discussed the difference between what they need and what they want, and what motivated them to make their decisions. Then, they returned to the game and adjusted their budgets. Once a participant completed their monthly worksheet without going over budget, they discussed options for utilizing their remaining money to achieve their financial goals.

Many youth reflected that it helped them to think about their money in a different way. One young woman said she didn’t realize how hard it was to live independently and that the Game of Life really opened her eyes to what this entailed. Another participant said he realized his lifestyle would be really affordable if only he didn’t buy fast food and video games as often. These anecdotes are just a few of the success stories from the Game of Life. It was a fun, interactive event that gave youth at Spectrum new ideas about using their money wisely.

Another part of the program was a cooking segment, which I created to teach not only cooking skills and safety, but also for youth to practice creativity and working in teams using cooperation and effective communication.

It was also designed to show the youth they can cook healthy, fresh meals for a lower cost than buying pre-prepared food. The event was set up somewhat like the television show, “Chopped,” in that the participants were given two required ingredients, chicken and a vegetable, as well as a ‘pantry’ of items that contained various food ingredients like pasta, rice, onions, and garlic.

Youth said they had fun during the event and most of them stated they learned something new, especially in The Landing. At one house, youth learned about eating kosher from one of the other residents, and at another house, youth made four different meals so that everyone’s food restrictions (vegetarian, gluten intolerance, and a low-cholesterol diet) were addressed, so all youth could eat together.

Thank you, Emma, for working with our youth over the past year! Congratulations on your upcoming graduation.

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