Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Work Hours
Monday to Friday: 7AM - 7PM
Weekend: 10AM - 5PM
The Lounge Homework’s Program
Most orphans struggle in school as they have no parents at home to help them with their homework or encourage them to work on projects. In fact, a bigger problem is that children who do not have parents at home have extra work to do and homework takes a back seat to the work. Children in child headed households or in households with a sick adult who they have to care for, spend most of their out of school washing, cooking, finding food for the household, cleaning or selling tomatoes on the street to earn money for the house.
Children and youth who come to the Lounge each day receive homework support and help. In this way, they can be assisted to stay in school and staying in school is the key to their futures.
We are hoping to create a lounge centre where we will have skilled personnel who can assist youth with what courses to take at school, how to apply for bursaries, and what to do if they do not have a high school diploma and want to move on with their lives. We also hope to run a computer centre where children and youth can come to get on the internet to do homework assignments, get information and learn computer skills.
In today’s world, knowledge of computers is essential for young people seeking jobs. Township communities do not have access to computers and so learners rarely graduate from township schools with computer competency. Our future goal is to have a resource centre where learners can get skills training or where community members can use the internet for personal purposes. Many learners do not have access to proper career guidance, or know where to go for help in how to match their skills and gifts with a career that will be realistic and fulfilling. The media centre will have information on where to go for bursaries, further studies and how to access good information for their futures
Children who have lost their parents are in need of a place where they can talk out their problems and receive support to make it through the challenges they face each day. Trained youth counselors are available to assist these children to process their grief and start moving past their problems.
South African youth face many obstacles that perpetuate disadvantage. Most township schools produce learners whose academic performance is below grade level. Poor matric results and low awareness of post-school opportunities lead to high numbers of unemployed youth. Most learners in township schools do not receive the skills development opportunities afforded their more privileged counterparts in the suburbs, including computer literacy and extra-mural activities. In addition to the difficulties that living in poverty and receiving a sub-standard education brings, many township youth are infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.
To work in collaboration with other organisation & bodies that mainly deals with the community upliftment and youth development. Providing the conditions for positive youth development is a responsibility shared by families, schools, and communities. The conditions for healthy youth development reside in families, schools, and communities.
Families promote healthy youth development when they:
- Provide support;
- Have positive family communication;
- Are involved in their adolescent’s school;
- Have clear rules and consequences and monitor their adolescent’s whereabouts;
- Provide positive, responsible role models for other adults, adolescents, and siblings;
- Expect their adolescent to do well; and
- Spend time together.
Schools promote healthy youth development when they:
- Expect commitment from youth;
- Have a caring school climate;
- Have clear rules and consequences;
- Provide positive, responsible adult role models; and
- Expect youth to do well.
Communities promote healthy youth development when:
- Adults advocate for youth;
- Neighbours monitor youths’ behaviour;
- Adults model positive, responsible, and healthy behaviour;
- Youth model positive, responsible, and healthy behaviour.
Education
MYCO project works with local schools, families and community organisations to engage or re-engage young people back into education or secure alternative education and training opportunities.
Health
MYCO projects provides free access to health and support services to disadvantaged individuals to improve physical, mental social wellbeing, with a strong focus on harm minimisation, early intervention and prevention.
MYCO believes in building capacity in individuals and the community; that’s why we do what we do. We strive for an equal and just society where every individual has access to healthcare, education, rehabilitation and the support to become active participants in their community.
As the gap between rich and poor grows and inequality becomes more and more apparent, Youth Projects health services have become all the more vital. Youth Projects promotes inclusion and builds safe and sustainable communities. Our programs support resilience, community connection and socially engaged individuals.
We believe building capacity within local communities is vital to effecting change and tackling entrenched disadvantage. Through community engagement and collaboration, Our Projects is able to support individuals to re-engage and become positive community participants. Working with other community organisations, local businesses and community members, our community programs provide a holistic and collaborative approach to initiating change and creating positive client outcomes.
When we say development in Education we mean?
- Teaching youth to read and write
- Run an awareness campaign to encourage students to stay in school
- Host a career day or college fair
- Specialized training for youth with identified problems, barriers or challenges, such as learning disabilities or attention deficit disorders.
- Employment assistance to youth who are shown to need assistance
Literacy and access to books
- Host a book drive
- Host an event at a community or school library
Health development
- Organise a day of outside play that would be a walk
- Promoting health by operating a mobile medical clinic for homeless youth
- Promoting health by providing counselling for youth who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse
- Addressing, or preventing the abuse of youth by providing counselling about coping with bullying or peer pressure.
- Work with community leaders to increase safe routes for kids to walk and ride to school.
- Organise a blood drive, volunteer at a blood drive or encourage others to give blood.
- Run an education campaign about HIV and AIDS.
Arts & Sport
- A lack of activities contributes to a sense of frustration among young people in the area, which is impounded by limited employment opportunities, gender inequalities and widespread abuse. That is why SAYC would runs tournaments and educational activities all which are led by us young leaders that would designed to promote safe sexual behaviour, life skills projects.
Environment
- Organize clean –up campaign
- Teach the youth on how to conserve water by showing them how you can save through everyday actions
- Organise a trash mob- a flash mob/race to pick up trash in a single location for a specific time like 30 minutes
Hunger
- (Food insecurity) we plant a community garden and donate the harvest to a local shelter
- Build a school garden and use the fruits and vegetables
- Act orange, and show support for kid hungry by organising people to wear orange, the colour of hunger awareness, on the same day
Community Building
- Help the elderly or disabled by doing yard work or making home repairs.
