Manaia YELP report
The Manaia YELP (Youth Empowerment and Leadership Program) was held in Big Timber beginning 4/25/08. Nineteen youth and five adult mentors were signed up to complete the program. Two youth dropped out that morning and one became ill that evening and had to leave. The weekend kickoff ran from 5PM - 9Pm on Friday, 9AM-9PM on Saturday and 9AM - 5PM on Sunday. Four facilitators and a cook from the Manaia Program were also present. The program continued for the next five weeks with the group meeting every Tuesday from 6PM - 9PM. On May 27th a graduation ceremony was held for the 16 youth and 5 adult participants and attended by parents and community members. The adult mentors will continue to work with the youth and several groups will be working to gain awareness for the program and fund raise to continue the program.
The workshops focused on self esteem, attitudes, behaviors, personal responsibility and conflict resolution. The program had a 100% success rate with all 21 participants graduating. Already school officials, parents and adult participants have seen a big improvement in all the youth. The program was open to all high school aged youth and free to participants. Approximately 60% of the attending youth were from single parent, low income families.
Funding for the program came from the following sources: MT Community Foundation Grant from NWAF, City of Big Timber, Sweet Grass County and the Community Development action group.