Wellness Space at Youth United for Change (YUC)
Designing a wellness space for youth is a delicate task.
Program coordinator and Facilitator Jai Thompson has worked to design a nourishing wellness space with Youth United for Change (YUC) students.
Over the course of the past year, Jai has worked closely with Executive Director Toni Mack to facilitate mindfulness in the form of reflection via journaling, love and kindness via community building, and taking on new perspectives within systems thinking via collaborative conversation.
About Youth United for Change
Youth United for Change (YUC) is a democratic organization primarily made up of working class youth of color that builds the “people power” necessary to hold school officials and the government accountable to guarantee the educational rights of Philadelphia public school students.
At YUC, low-income young people organize campaigns geared towards ensuring high quality public education for all young Philadelphians. YUC wins positive educational policy changes through school-and community-based organizing. A diverse group of young people comes together to identify common concerns and act collectively as key stakeholders to create strategies to influence policy-making, with the goal of carrying out comprehensive educational reforms in the Philadelphia public school system.
Inner Strength Collaboration
Our approach to youth-led advocacy amplifies the voice and impact of young people and the communities that support them towards creating systemic change; and creates the conditions for young people to simultaneously develop as critically strategic leaders.
As Thompson (They/Them) puts it:
“YUC students now have a space where they can opt in to support, group support, and mindfulness meditation based tools.” Activities can include guided meditation or other restorative and reflective modalities.”
The wellness space serves as a symbol for synergy between Inner Strength and YUC—a shared mission to help youth reach their highest potential and amplify their voices.
