|
 Youth
Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) is a voluntary, non-governmental organization (NGO),
which is registered as a company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital.
It was established in 1991, in response to a complex of challenges facing adolescents
and their families, to provide positive interventions for at-risk, in-school adolescents.
In keeping with its mission,
YOU offers a broad spectrum of programmes to in- school youth and expects students,
with the help of its programmes, to complete their post- primary education and to
be set on a path to becoming responsible and productive citizens.
YOU takes a holistic approach
by training caring adult volunteers to serve as mentors in a carefully supervised
mentoring programme and by integrating a comprehensive network of other support
programmes for young people into its overall programme. These include education
on drug abuse, anger management, reproductive health, peer counseling, supervised
homework centres and career-related projects as well as wholesome and useful summer
programmes.
YOU
carries out the following Primary Activities;
.
mentoring for adolescents featuring
o
career guidance
o
positive role model
o
emotional support
o
counseling
.
introduction to workplace skills – Summer job placement
.
a homework programme for students with supervised facilities
. summer
enrichment day camp
.
training of adult mentors
.
advocacy on behalf of all children and adolescents
.
consultancy services for agencies and institutions wishing to start
their own mentoring programmes
.
parent workshops to improve family life and to involve parents more
in the school life of their children
Over the past two years, Y.O.U. has achieved the following:
·
Continued its
core programme of Mentoring, expanding the numbers of ‘Mentees’ from 161 to 261,
accommodating a total of 1800 students in the programme per year.
·
Recruited, trained
and supervised a total of 105 new Volunteer Mentors.
·
Continued its
11 secondary support programmes of Parenting Education, monthly Adolescent Workshops,
Summer Day Camps, Workplace Orientation (“Shadow Week” each August) Motivational
“Power Talks” in schools, training of Peer Counsellors in Schools, Career Guidance,
Mentoring Consultancy (a total of 26 other organizations and groups have been facilitated
in setting up their own youth mentoring programmes) and public education/advocacy
on behalf of all Jamaican youngsters. The latter has included publishing a parenting
education column “Tips for Parents” in a national newspaper for one year and a continuing
outreach programme of talks on adolescent issues to parents, teachers and students
at schools all over the island, in response to a steady stream of requests.
·
Established
several new initiatives, including outreach to 3 at-risk communities under the Citizens
Security & Justice Programme, and an innovative collaboration with a private
sector company, under which Y.O.U. trained staff members to serve as Mentors at
two schools.
·
Continued to
work closely with 13 high and secondary schools, especially those in communities
facing severe social and economic challenges, to help adolescents make the most
of educational opportunities, and to network with other NGOs working for the welfare
of Jamaican children and adolescents.
|