Project-based collaborations
The UCCP has worked with many organizations over the years, helping them to incorporate youth voice into their larger organizational activities, structures and decision-making. Examples of this work include:
PA BUSTED!
In winter/spring 2009, the UCCP worked with three youth and one adult facilitator from BUSTED! PA to develop media literacy and production skills. In the process, the youth in the program planned, shot and edited a short Anti-Smoking PSA titled "Stop and Think" that educates youth about the causes and effects of smoking.
The youth participants from the BUSTED! program used the knowledge and skills they developed through the collaboration to organize a workshop on media production for the BUSTED! Media Conference.
YOUTHadelphia
The UCCP worked very closely with the Philadelphia Foundation in setting up the first citywide youth philanthropy advisory committee and then collaborating with them on planning and developing youth-driven research, media, marketing, and outreach activities. The products of this work included: surveys of high school youth from all over the city that informed the overall focus of their grant-making; a film and a magazine that have been used for marketing and outreach activities. We also provided workshops on data analysis, film making and interviewing techniques. The UCCP continues to work with YOUTHadelphia which is now housed at the Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements. This work includes assistance with the Perspectives Project 2008, a report on their latest survey results and their new grant making focus, and a short video highlighting the issues relevant to youth in Philadelphia.
Red Cross Southeastern Philadelphia Chapter
The UCCP worked for over six months with adult staff and youth from the Red Cross on planning, developing and implementing a week long summer camp around disaster preparedness. In Fall 2008, the UCCP received an award from the Red Cross for this work. (2008)
Eastern North Philadelphia Youth Services Coalition (ENPYSC)
Since 2006, the UCCP has worked with the ENPYSC PhilaFUND Board, a youth led philanthropy committee in Eastern North Philadelphia that supports youth led initiatives and programs through grant making.
Dwight Evans Leadership Summit
Since 2006, the UCCP has been collaborating with Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans' Office to support their annual Civic Leadership Summit (DECLS). The project involves student teams from various high schools including Martin Luther King, Imphotep, New Media Technology, Cardinal Dougherty and Parkway Northwest High Schools. Under the guidance of Temple students serving as collegiate advisors, the high school teams develop public policy initiatives aimed at solving problems that affect their communities and schools. The projects culminate in a two day summit attended by parents, teachers, community members, elected officials and other key stakeholders. The issues addressed by the student projects have included suicide among African American youth, bullying, and environment education, among others.
For more information, please contact:
Catalina Gonzalez
Assistant Director of Youth Civic Engagement
215-204-6185
catalina.gonzalez@temple.edu