Thank you for Giving to the Max for Project Legacy youth programs
This Thursday was Give to the Max Day 2019. Today, I’m reflecting on the impact donor and community support have had on our organization, and one primary way is through funding new programs to help our young people.
Earlier this week, Alysha and I met with a Safe Harbor advocate from the Olmsted County Victims Services Office. The Safe Harbor Law protects youth from being prosecuted as prostitutes, and instead, they are seen as victims and survivors of sexual abuse.
We are proud to announce that Project Legacy youth will be participating in a 5-week prevention program that consists of Safe Harbor advocates teaching the “Not a #Number” curriculum once a week for five weeks.
Not a #Number is an interactive, five-module prevention curriculum designed to teach youth how to protect themselves from human trafficking and exploitation through information, critical thinking and skills development. Not a #Number uses a holistic approach, focusing on respect, empathy, individual strengths and the relationship between personal and societal pressures that create or increase vulnerabilities.
This new program, and others like it, are made possible because of your support.
This past week, Project Legacy received referrals from the school district for both an 11 year old and a 13 year old. Yesterday, we received a referral from Fernbrook Family Center for a 14 year old. A parent sent a message about her 6th grade daughter and another child messaged us herself, just 13 years old.
Referrals for services continue to flow through our doors. We need to meet this growing need with ongoing sustainability, staffing and financial support, because the power of giving allows us to serve children and youth of color in Rochester, often the most vulnerable in our community.
In addition to this exciting new initiative, we have additional programs we are looking to fund through monthly giving from our donors:
A new program for foster children of color, with a Healing Circle co-facilitated by a social work student who is an African American former foster child alongside Mayo Clinic pediatrician and board member, Jane Rosenman.
New program and Healing Circle for justice-involved adolescents coordinated by Willie Tipton, a new member of our social work team.
Both programs will have professional oversight by social workers and physicians, including Jane Rosenman, MD, John Edmonds, MSW, and Cesar Sandoval, LICSW.
At Project Legacy, your giving makes a difference. Thank you for donating on Give to the Max Day and please consider becoming a monthly donor by joining our Legacy Partners program in the coming year.