MyCom's Thankful Thursday: Thank You to Our Summer 2024 YPAR Students from Hough & Mt. Pleasant!
Thank You to Our Summer 2024 Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) students for addressing community challenges head-on.
Over Summer 2024, MyCom hosted four YPAR cohorts of youth from the Hough and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods to address their most pressing community issues with solutions.
Post pandemic and similar to other urban areas, Cleveland saw a rise in aggressive and violent incident in neighborhoods, especially those in our most marginalized communities. In coordination with our existing Safe Passage initiative* locations, MyCom chose two neighborhoods to engage our youth in discussing community issues, analyzing data and designing possible solutions through the Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) initiative. The core premise of this work is to engage our youth in examining issues that concern them and their families, discuss the issues and potential solutions in safe and respectful environments, and advocate for the enactment of the solutions when possible.
“YPAR raises the thoughts and voices of our youth. Hearing and engaging their solutions drives positive futures for everyone. Positive youth development IS economic development,”
Kasey Morgan, Chief Strategy Officer, MyCom
Testimonials
-
Curtis Benjamin
-
Brenda PryorMyCom Coordinator
-
Brandan NewtonAnton Grdina FLOW Participant
MyCom will enact our mission with race and equality at the forefront of our work as we always have. We will use our thought-leadership, funding, advocacy, and network to redesign service delivery. Together we will rethink infrastructure and create solutions that eliminate access to healthcare, cyclical poverty, access to quality education, housing stability, and other barriers that have impacted black lives.