Youth Speak Their Minds and Hearts at the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations Community Dialogue Program
Community leaders from the nonprofit field and government filled a room on November 6, 2009 to listen to the stories and, in one case, the music of area youth as the Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio held its first-ever Community Dialogue program, “Youth as Assets.”
Lead-off speaker Case Western senior Gian Genovesi described his own experience.
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“I watched my friends fall through the cracks,” he recalled about growing up in an impoverished neighborhood near Dayton, Ohio. “Someone reached out and grabbed my hand, and that made all the difference.”
As a result, Genovesi became a Big Brother. In introducing Genovesi, Michele Murphy, Director of Professional Development Programs at the Center, talked about the many choices a busy young person has. |
Case Western Reserve senior and football player Gian Genovesi tells about his motivation to become a Big Brother. “Someone did this for me, now it’s my turn.”
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“But, he chose service,” Murphy stated. “He chose youth.”
Genovesi, a member of Case Western Reserve’s undefeated football team for the past two seasons, went on to encourage adults in the audience to make the same choice.
The topic choice for the launch of the Community Dialogue Series, “Youth As Assets,” was a natural given the Center’s 13-year commitment and experience with its Youth Philanthropy and Service (YPS) program and four years experience with the Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship Program. The Center was pleased to partner with The Cleveland Foundation on this program.
The Rainey Institute, led by Mandel Center alumnus Lee Lazar, CNM ’08, presented a violin performance with a graduate-turned-employee and his tiny protege, a 7-year-old student.
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A youth panel featured students from the following Mandel Center-affiliated organizations: Adoption Network, City Year, Boys and Girls Clubs, Neighborhood Leadership Institute, and the Center’s YPS program. Guided by Treu-Mart Director Patricia Heilbron, the youth discussed topics ranging from their plans beyond high school to their fears and hopes about the future. One student’s candid and heartfelt comment that she just did not want to be all alone caused a visible reaction throughout the audience. |
Matilda Washington and Darnell Weaver from The Rainey Institute performed and spoke about the difference Rainey’s music and performance programs make in their lives.
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Lisa Bottoms from The Cleveland Foundation discussed the goals of the recently launched MyCOM program.
Audience members completed a Promise to Youth card and turned it in. One particular submission captures the spirit and intent of many cards, “listen better, work harder and choose hope everyday because of you.”
In explaining the Center’s interest in creating and sponsoring the Community Dialogue Series, Mandel Center Executive Director Susan L. Eagan, said, “Among the Mandel Center’s greatest assets is the willingness and ability to reach and connect to every sector, and virtually every leader, in the area’s nonprofit community. Through these relationships, and its own 25 years of experience, the Center recognizes that often the great work done by nonprofits goes unrecognized.”
She continued, “The Mandel Center’s Community Dialogue Series is meant to feature the work of nonprofit ‘unsung heroes’ and to create a forum to discuss community issues around which we must continue to dedicate ourselves.”
Plans are underway for the next Community Dialogue program. For more information, please check back on the Center’s website.