Downtown TAY
Downtown TAY serves as a “Warm HUB” or Resource Center to support young adults, with an emphasis on African America transitional aged males, to connect to needed resources that include housing, employment, health care, educational development, mental health wellness and introductions to positive uplifting social networks. Through a wealth of peer led and intergenerational programs Downtown TAY works to educate, elevate and inspire transitional age youth (18-24).
Three programmatic areas focused on are:
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Sankofa – Classes, trips, movies and other projects that focus on the history and culture of the African Diaspora and Indigenous cultures around the world.
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The Culture Broker Academy – a 6-week culturally responsive trauma informed and strength based curriculum.
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Peer Support – Offers weekly or bi-weekly peer led groups such as Street Cred to Incredible, Sista2Sista, Brotha4Brotha, Mindful Mondays and workshops that inspire health, growth and development in the workplace and community.
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Creativity – Urban gardening, Good Eats, Culture Boards, and creativity classes that include various forms of self-expression such as art, music, dance and writing/poetry.
The Invisibility Honoring our Memorials Project
Downtown TAY addresses the many who are numbed/shot down and emotionally disconnected resulting in slow death due to C-PTSD (Community Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Without personal, familial and community mourning transitional aged youth of color’s collective pain is invalidated and made invisible. Invisibility events honor our memorials and bring healing work (counseling, energy work, massage, tai chi, yoga) to community members, with a focus on transitional age youths in need of support in grieving family and friends lost due to violence.