By Michelle Faulkner-Forson | Innovation and Partnerships Director
As we are moving into a new year during a surge in Coronavirus numbers in the US, we stand on the importance of building authentic relationships, even if we can't connect in person. Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr day and an important moment of reflection.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." "As we work on shaping the culture of our communities, we have to build them with the idea that the first function of community is support." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
In December 2020 as we prepared for the end of the year, we hosted a special Amplify Us! workshop with the YMCA Youth and Family Services mentoring program called Inspiring Futures. We first met with mentors and held a workshop designed especially for them to help them better support their mentees, who are predominantly people of color. Many of the youth who are referred to the Insipiring Future program have suffered trauma in their short lives, including neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, familial mental illness, and family separation and loss. They often lack positive adult guidance and supervision. In an effort to cultivate positive youth and adult relationships, one of our goals for the mentor workshops was to have the mentors investigate their own identity and why they wanted to be a mentor. The more you understand yourself, the more you understand your movements in and interaction with the world and are more capable to be in authentic relationships with others. We are currently scheduling two more mentor workshops as well as two weekend workshops with mentors and mentees together. These workshops are being developed with hopes to create more open and and honest, positive relationships between mentors and mentees.
This is just a small glimpse into the work of the Amplify US! Initiative as we look forward to connecting with the community in 2021. Would you like to join us in conversation?
Connect in our next Community Workshop coming up on Friday, January 29, at 6:30pm EST. We invite you to register for free and join us!
What it entails:
Using poetry, we will explore who we are in a new year, share our stories and our struggles to navigate change.
Links:
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