Faces of Youth Empowerment (F.Y.E.)

 

Faces of Youth Empowerment (F.Y.E.) is Urban Solutions youth council, which provides an organized voice for the youth participants of Urban Solutions, while also providing opportunities to develop in the areas of leadership, social awareness, and community activism.  The primary focus of F.Y.E. is to spearhead youth-led projects and events that meet the needs and address the issues of Urban Solutions’ youth participants and youth in the surrounding neighborhoods.  In addition, F.Y.E. will serve as an advisor to Urban Solutions on the current and future directions of its youth programs and initiatives.  F.Y.E. is comprised of students from all Urban Solutions programs, and will be an ongoing program for Urban Solutions. 

F.Y.E. is a pro-active youth development initiative, which strives to reverse the downward spiral of alienation, lack of empowerment, and sense of powerlessness by providing decision-making authority, shared power with adults, and a forum for youth to use community activism to reflect on and address the day-to-day challenges they face.  All F.Y.E. events are planned and facilitated by teens.

 

The basic components of F.Y.E. include:

• Training for F.Y.E. members in the areas of leadership, teamwork, tolerance, and community awareness through workshops and youth conferences

•  Planning and implementation of youth-led events addressing issues youth face in their communities, schools, and personal lives

• Strengthening the self-confidence, social awareness, and decision-making skills of F. Y.E. participants in an effort for these characteristics to spill over into other aspects of the participants’ lives

• Serving as youth advisory board to provide feedback and evaluation of US programs and initiatives through quarterly meetings with the US CEO

F.Y.E.'s first event was the ACT NOW! Youth Violence Prevention Forum, which will took place on Global Youth Service Day, April 22, 2006.  This one-day youth-led forum was in response to a heightened awareness of youth violence, recently confirmed by the recent killings of several youth in Urban Solutions’ service communities.  The purpose of the forum was to provide a safe place for teens to discuss the effects of youth violence, while also providing tools to empower young people to take an active stance against violence.  Forum attendees participated in workshops on community violence, anger management, the role of media and violence, and teen dating violence. 

ACT NOW! forum was an absolute success with 150 attendees! Click here to view the pictures of the event.

In 2007, F.Y.E. will be hosting a series of open mic and discussion sessions called "It's Not What Ya Heard!" as a way to use entertainment to get young people talking about the important issues of tolerance, diversity, and relationships.  More info coming soon!