- About
- Our Philosophy
- Vision, Mission, Goals, and Objectives
- Our Clients and Projects
- Team Members
- Community Change – Africa
Vision Statement
Community Change envisions people and organizations that have what it takes and does what it takes to support the survival and success of their community.
Mission Statement
Community Change’s mission is to make our community a better place to live. We do this by supporting the development of youth, families, and institutions that serve them. Specifically, we provide innovative and effective educational programs, professional development, organizational development and fund development services.
Goals
- 1. To engage youth in exploring career possibilities based on their interests;
- 2. To guide youth in analyzing and addressing their community concerns;
- 3. To engage youth in exploring their culture;
- 4. To engage youth in exploring ways of building strong relationships at various levels of society; and…
- 5. To build the capacity of organizations to support the communities they serve.
Objectives, Including Dosage of Services
1. To provide at least 28 youth workshops per semester to up to 30 K-12th grade students based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;
2. To support schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education the development of academic curricula and college courses comprised of at least 24 sessions per semester based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;
3. To provide at least 12 mentoring sessions (research support, collaborative lesson planning meetings, and/or instructional coaching) per semester to each education professional assigned that support them in developing a series of project-based learning lessons based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for youth engagement;
4. To provide at least 25 hours of a range of capacity building services (including fund development and strategic planning) per year to government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education that will strengthen their services to youth, families and communities.
Services/Strategies
1. Educational Programs (Youth, Family and Community Development): Community Change partners with schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education to develop and implement educational programs, workshops, classes and college courses for the students and families they serve. These programs are based on Community Change’s unique models for 1. career explorations (The CareerVisions Model); 2. community organizing (The Community Change Model); 3. cultural awareness (The Legacy Model); and 4. relationship building (The Peace Model). The themes and exercises for each model are designed around students’ interests and academic needs. This allows for the integration of art, dance, drama games, and sports with such academic content as literacy, science, and math to provide a relevant and engaging educational experience for students. Students are also engaged in research and restorative practice circles to support and facilitate their exploration in each model.
• The CareerVisions Model engages students from kindergarten through college in a variety of fun yet challenging activities that support them in defining and pursuing their career ambitions as they analyze and address their community concerns. Students are engaged in an exploration of people, places and other things related to their field of interest.
• The Community Change Model is an award winning approach to engage students from kindergarten through college in identifying, analyzing and addressing social issues in their neighborhood through the dynamic integration of critical questions, interesting activities and references. In practice, Community Change is applied to a single issue identified and selected by the students. Past Community Change Projects have focused on such issues as drugs, gangs, and violence.
• The Legacy Model engages students from kindergarten through college in an exploration of their culture as it is manifested in their field of interest. Legacy gives youth an idea of the kind of people they can be for themselves and their community. The goal of Legacy is to increase student awareness of their culture in their field of interest. Through fun, age-appropriate and challenging activities, students become aware of the presence and impact of their people in a variety of subjects and fields.
• The Peace Model engages students from kindergarten through college in exercises that repair harm and develop relationships. Research shows schools implementing restorative practices have seen a drop in disciplinary problems, decreased reliance on detention and suspension, and an improvement in student attitudes. Educators worldwide are using restorative practices to prevent bullying and violence. In Peace, this is done by navigating six phases of exploration: self,family, class & school, community, nation and world.
2. Parent and Family Engagement: CCI provides a wide variety of workshops to enhance and strengthen the skills of parents, guardians and other adult caregivers to help them guide their children through schools and their community. CCI parent workshops improve their knowledge and skills related to education, economics, community resources, adolescent sexual health and risky behaviors. Workshops can be conducted at the school or community location of the client. with parents alone and/or with their children to improve communication skills. Workshops are facilitated by a variety professionals, including educators of representatives of social service providers with significant expertise in the training topics.
3. Curricula and Course Development: Community Change, Inc. supports schools, school districts, government agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education the development of academic curricula and college courses based on the CareerVisions, Community Change, Legacy and/or Peace Models for student engagement.
4. Staff Trainings (Professional Development): Through its unique mentoring approach to staff trainings, Community Change supports organizations in adopting its program models for cultural awareness, career explorations, community organizing, and relationship building. Community Change does this by assigning an experienced educator to provide one-to-one research support, collaborative lesson planning and instructional coaching to an organization’s staff who will be responsible for lesson implementation. Community Change also trains large groups of staff using the common workshop approach and webinars that cover a range of pedagogical and organizational topics, including college and career readiness and parent engagement.
5. Strategic Planning (Organizational Development): Community Change engages its clients in strategic planning process to develop best approaches for overcoming challenges. Strategic planning services include communications, facilitation and/or participation in organizational retreats and meetings. Community Change leverages the experience of its management experts to examine an agency’s needs, challenges, environment, and current capacity to implement common, best and innovative practices to meet their goals.
6. Grant Proposal Writing (Fund Development): Through its grant proposal writing services, Community Change identifies and pursues grant opportunities for its clients. Since 2009, Community Change has raised more than $25 million in government funding for various city agencies, not-for-profits, and institutions of higher education throughout New York State. These include the New York City Department of Education, the City of Yonkers Public School System and the City of Mt. Vernon – Youth Bureau.