Help support the 802 Lounge!
Go to: http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/support-the-802-lounge/105705
and make a donation, no amount to small or too large.
Hello my name is Rachel Williams; I am the director of the Youth
Managed Café (YMC). If you have never heard of the YMC before we are
a non-profit organization working that works with young adults in the
upper valley to help them become positive and productive members of
the community.
We offer a variety of support to young adults
including our youth center/arts venue in Windsor Vermont better known
as the 802 Lounge.
The YMC fills a much-needed niche working with a segment of our
population that is frequently overlooked and alienated, namely our
marginalized youth. It is rightly located where there is a high
percentage of a low-socioeconomic population and a high school drop
out rate that is 3 times the state average. Recent reports
indicate rising use of heroin, prescription medicine, bath salts and
other drugs among area youth. Tragically, this summer four
young people in the area committed suicide and officials have
reported a rise in self-cutting.
The YMC offers youth a place to go that is safe and
substance-free. It offers a broad range of no-cost workshops and
activities to build youths’ skills and provides them with an
affordable, alternative outlet for arts, music and events. For
example, through the Youth Café Kids group, which is in charge of
running all of the events and programs, young people learn such
skills as fundraising, organizing and public speaking. While youth
oriented, YMC is also a resource for parents, providing workshops on
such themes as bullying, substance abuse and current hot topics such
as sexting.
With poverty rates rising and schools facing tight budgets,
organizations such as the Youth Managed Café are more needed than
ever. We are currently trying to meet a matching grant of 25,000 from
the Byrne Foundation by the end of 2013. There is no amount too small
or too large. Every bit donated helps provide oppertunities for young
adults. If you are wondering what will happen to your donation if we
dont meet the 25,000 dollars in time don't worry. Every dollar
donated will go immediatly towards helping youth and the community,
and once we reach the $25,000 goal every dollar you have donated will
magically turn into a second dollar thanks to the Byrne foundation.
You may be wondering what programs we offer and what your money
will be going towards helping. Below is a list and a brief
description of the programs we offer:
Youth Cafe Youth Group (aka Youth Cafe Kids): The
youth cafe youth group is open to young adults ages 12 to 21. Our
youth group is the heart of the organization and is in charge of
running all of our events and programs. The group learns skills in
fundraising and event organization. The group is in charge of running
the 802 Lounge. Our youth group is a great peer support group that
works one on one with our councilor to help make fun activities that
apply to young adults in the upper valley as well as receive
assistance with continuing education and job placement.
The 802 Lounge: The 802 Lounge is substance
free art and music venue/lounge on River street in Windsor Vt. It is
open to people of all ages (those under 12 must be accompanied by a
chaperone) 6 days a week.
The Lounge schedule is Tuesday-Thursday 3pm
to 9pm, Friday 3pm-12am, Saturday 2pm-12am and Sunday 2pm-pm.
The
lounge is free during normal operation and offers free wifi, laptops
for in house use, cable on our 50 inch tv, a playstation with a
variety of games, an air hockey table, books games and our great
resource area (the resource area features free health products like
soap and tooth brushes as well as a community bulletin board and
useful brochures).
Most of all the lounge is a great place to come
and hang out, do homework and purchase snacks. We also offer music
and art events, art workshops, business workshops, a parenting group
and health workshops.
Although the lounge is open to people of all
ages it primarily is used by young adults between the ages of 14 and
25 reducing the loitering issue and substance use issue in Windsor
Vt.
Art and Music Events: The Youth Managed Cafe
offers low cost music and art events featuring local artist. These
events range from concerts to art galleries and everything in
between. Our events are held all over the upper valley to insure
everyone the access to cultural events.
Art Workshops: We offer a variety of art
workshops that resemble day camps for people under the age of 19.
Working with experienced artists our workshops are a great way to
provide a variety of art education to all in the community for low to
no cost.
Business Workshops: The key to a successful
career is experience. We offer a variety of business workshops at no
cost to young adults that are hosted by professionals in our
community. These workshops expose young adults to programs being used
by most companies, practice interview skills and let the participants
use lap tops to successfully use the skills they practice in the
workshops.
Health Workshops: This year we will be
starting health workshops for young adults to better expose them to
topics they are currently facing that they may not have access to in
other forms. An example of this will be Planned Parenthood coming and
discussing personal health topics with kids in Windsor who are at
least a fifteen minute drive from their nearest clinic.
Parent Workshops: We offer a bi weekly
workshop on Saturday for adults that discusses current issues facing
teens such as sexting, bullying and substance use and abuse.
Artist Assistance: We offer assistance to
artist under the age of 25 finding galleries to display their work,
schools and classes to better educate themselves and help with
creating forms to sell their work in a responsible and legal manner
(such as artist contracts and bills of sale).
Assistance Continuing Education: Our
employees work one on one with young adults helping them research
colleges, research scholarships, apply for both colleges and
scholarships, write essays and create portfolios. We take pride in
this program and the fact that over 90 percent of our youth group
members continue education after the completion of high school.
Community Art and Philanthropic Projects: Our
youth group works in different art and philanthropic projects
throughout the Upper Valley. Past projects have included green up at
the Windsor Welcome Center and our annual jack o lantern decorating
at CHAD.
Youth Training and Collaboration with Other
Youth Organizations: We take our youth group to a
variety of youth summits and training events and work with other
local and state wide youth groups to work on different projects such
as our work with VKAT/OVX in assistance withe the Free My Ride
Campaign.
The Youth Managed Cafe has received plenty of recognition over the
years for our work in the community. We hope to continue offering
these great programs and serving young adults throughout the Upper
Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire. This is were you come in. Please
help us by donation to our organization and to the future of youth.
Any amount is appreciated and all will be doubled by the Byrne
Foundation once we reach our goal.
Feel free to email our director
Rachel Williams, williams.youthcafe@gmail, if you have any questions
and please feel free to drop by the 802 Lounge!
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