We are excited to announce that the Milford Youth Center received a $6,400 Community Grant from the Greater Milford Community Health Network (CHNA-6) for the implementation of a pilot “Social and Emotional Learning Program” for youth in our program and staff alike.
The idea is to create a program to help staff and our youth alike to help to learn about and manage their emotions and interactions with others and build the core social and emotional competencies including self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, social awareness, and relationship skills need to succeed in school and thrive in life, especially after the last couple years of living through a pandemic.
The grant funds will allow the Youth Center to contract Alisha Rojas Harrison, CTRT-E, during the pilot, to design, operate, and train staff to operate the program. Ms. Harrison has a 10-year history of working with youth, including Senior Program Director at the Boys & Club of Greater Lowell, and starting a nonprofit “Helen’s House” that specializes in providing 24/7 access to resources during youth mental health crisis. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Ohio University, is a Certified Trauma & Resilience Trainers and is in the process of obtaining certification in Emotional CPR.
The grant will also allow the Center to purchase supplies and sensory tools, commonly referred to as fidgets. Studies show fidgets facilitate the release of negative feelings of stress and anxiety, regulates insinuations of restlessness, increases focus, and in general has a calming effect. The goal is to have these in each program space, so that they become recourses that youth are able to use freely and in turn become part of the after school culture and decrease the likelihood of an potential stigma related to their use.
Thank you CHNA-6 for awarding us this grant and for supporting the Milford Youth Center! We would like to thank the volunteer grant writer, Francoise Elise and Alisha, for working with the Director of the Center on bringing this idea to life and for collaborating on the grant proposal! Finally thank you to Alisha for organizing the donation of 10 sensory kits to be used in our program spaces, provided by the Entrepreneurship for All – EforAll and Keep Calm Toolkit, Inc. More about this program will be available at a later date!