This project was eligible for matching funds through Neighborhood Connections COVID-19 Recovery Fund
Leader
malcolm Burton
Location
2749 Woodhill Rd CLEVELAND, OH 44104
About the project
My Brother My Sister/ MBMS, a grassroots peer mentoring/leadership organization, recognizes the ongoing challenges affecting positive teen leadership development and academic achievement, amongst youth of color. My Brother My Sister will provide an intervention model involving Community Love and Culture in a Hip Hop Art Therapy Practice group setting. Hip Hop Art Therapy in part involves the analysis and creation of audio/visual digital stories; incorporating photography, art, graffiti, videography, and music. Participants are guided to express thoughts, fears, and challenges they face day to day as young people. My Brother My Sister Buckeye Chapter will highlight the stories of the youth of this neighborhood in a multi-media approach that allows free expression and positive youth development.
The Steps
Organizations, local schools and families identify program participants 07/21
Hip Hop Art Therapy offered weekly after school to address anxiety, depression, anger issues and provide coping skills. 9/21-11/22
VIRTUAL SESSIONS are offered to cover the following: Road Map Evaluation to access students knowledge and practice of coping skills to address anxiety, depression, and anger. They also learn how support from the group can assist them with coping skills and high school graduation. 11/2021-11/2022
College exposure and Career Exploration Shadowing 4/22-7/23
Digital Story/ Art Showcase 10/22
Why we‘re doing it
A disproportionate number of students of color facing school suspensions, dealing with depression, anxiety & trauma, have a higher risk of not becoming high school graduates. Young people struggle with a presence of depressive attitudes, anxiety, past and present trauma experiences. These challenges affect teens in school where there is also a feeling of isolation amongst the youth and specifically for African American and Latino students, it leads to their disproportionate involvement with the criminal justice system. Unfortunately for youth in the Buckeye neighborhood, this is particularly a challenge where the average family income is $17,410 per year for a household of 3 or more. There’s only 33% graduation rate, and 22% enroll in high school signaling drop out beginning in middle school.
My Brother My Sister has proven results with youth facing these challenges by guiding and encouraging artistic expression with Hip Hop Art Therapy and through its nationally evaluated six-prong intervention model:
♣ Community- elevating communal needs
♣ Love –appreciating and devoting to self and others
♣ Culture –recognizing the importance of history and tradition
♣ Education- emphasizing that academic success serves individual and community needs
♣ Servant leadership – encouraging a way of being that is in service to others
Personal responsibility –being accountable to others