Welcome Teen Empowerment to the City South West! 392 Genesee Street

Teen Empowerment, a youth development organization, has moved into 392 Genesee Street. Teen Empowerment is a great resource that I think will have a great effect on the South West side of Rochester, if not the whole city. Welcome!

www.teenempowerment.org/rochester.html

ABOUT TEEN EMPOWERMENT
The mission of the Center for Teen Empowerment is to empower youth and adults as agents of individual, institutional, and social change.

Teen Empowerment (TE) inspires young people, and the adults who work with them, to think deeply about the most difficult social problems in their communities, and gives them the tools they need to work with others in creating significant positive change. At TE's youth organizing sites, youth and adult staff bring authentic youth voice into the dialogue about improving their communities, mobilize the energy of urban youth to create meaningful change, and facilitate mutually respectful relationships between youth and adults. The Teen Empowerment Model is responsible for our success. TE's interactive methodology is effective with groups of all ages, and TE staff train others to use the model and have written a book, Moving Beyond Icebreakers©, describing our creative approach to group facilitation.

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Permalink Reply by Wendy Sullivan on August 17, 2009 at 10:07pm

Thanks for the update - I've always loved this building and know the Teen Empowerment model. Being so close to the two Wilson Schools will be prime for this organization...

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Permalink Reply by MacClurg Vivian on August 18, 2009 at 8:09am

Thanks for the heads up Shawn. I always like to know who the staff are in nonprofit programs. I see they are based in Boston and they currently do not list the staff for the Rocheser office. They did say: "Each Teen Empowerment site employs 10-12 youth organizers, ages 14 to 21, who work 10-12 hours per week throughout the school year and 20 hours per week during the summer." Anyone know who the ED is? They are looking for a Admin/Finance Director. If anyone knows them, ask them to add Staff and contact info to their website.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on August 18, 2009 at 8:28am

Hi MacClurg,

Our previous landlord (and now our very good friend of ours) is the one who has brought Teen Empowerment to Rochester. As of now, I believe she is the only staff memeber, and she is in the process of establishing TE here. I bet you can understand what that is like. She is a very welcoming person, and would love to see a smiling face stopping by, and welcoming them to the neighborhood.

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Permalink Reply by MacClurg Vivian on August 18, 2009 at 9:23pm

Sounds good Shawn, And her name is......?

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Permalink Reply by Wendy Sullivan on August 19, 2009 at 6:58am

We have a number of youth coming to St. Stephen's who might be interested in Teen Empowerment. maybe the woman who started it could come visit our parish in the Fall to talk about the program.

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Permalink Reply by Center for Teen Empowerment on October 19, 2009 at 6:29pm

Wendy. Please contact us in January as we prepare to open our hiring process for youth. The youth who work here will be some of the best spokespeople. we will also notify you if and when they create some interim smaller neighborhood events as they come up. It would be great to know more about St. Stephen's, the contact people, where it is, etc.

thanks for your interest!

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Permalink Reply by Center for Teen Empowerment on October 19, 2009 at 6:25pm

Being said former landlord ;-), I must clarify... actually, my colleague Doug Ackley brought Teen Empowerment to Rochester from Boston before I returned home in 06 (i worked for TE in Boston for 6 years before that). We currently have 2 adults (myself & Doug), 1 young adult (19 years old) and over a dozen youth organizers (ages 14-19) on staff.

Together, we coordinate our citywide initiatives that came out of youths' work over the past 6 years in Rochester as a whole: the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council and Youth-Police Unity Project. However, our roots and most effective model is neighborhood-based. Once we are able to raise the funds, we will hire additional youth organizers who live in the SW and who will create initiatives to engage other youth in addressing issues specifically in the SW (we are aiming for February 2010).

Thank you for the feedback on our website, MacClurg. We have been in Boston for 17 years and in Rochester for 6, so we are still figuring out the most accessible way to configure information on our website.

And thanks for getting the word out Shawn! It was definitely an inspiring evening for all of us.

Here's our contact info... our model & staff bios can be found under "About" on our website: www.teenempowerment.org

Doug Ackley, Director of Rochester Programs
Jennifer Banister, Development & Collaborations Manager
Shanterra Randle, Associate Coordinator

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Permalink Reply by Center for Teen Empowerment on October 19, 2009 at 6:30pm

Sorry... our phone # is 697-3464.

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on October 19, 2009 at 6:34pm

Thanks for clarifying my misinformation! ;)
It was a truly inspiring and wonderful night, I was blown away by the turn out!

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Permalink Reply by Shawn on October 16, 2009 at 8:00am

If you were not able to go to (or get inside) the grand opening of Teen Empowerment, you missed an amazing celebration. When we arrived around 6pm, there were so many people inside, we almost did not get in. We heard from the local public figures, but what grabbed me, and was the most powerful part of the evening, was hearing from some of the kids that TE has helped. This is a program that works! Please if you get the chance to check it out, stop in and say hello, and welcome them to the City - South West.

In the 5 years I have been here, I have not seen so many people rally around something like TE. Maybe it's the current state of violence affecting our youth, maybe people really do care, and have needed a strong organization with a powerful message like Teen Empowerment they could rally behind.

I was truly moved and inspired last night. Go to their website, checkout their Facebook page, stop in. But most of all, if you can please donate some money. A lot of folks, myself included would love to help and volunteer. But there really is not a need for volunteers. The way TE work's is, they hire and train the city youth to run the programs and do the out reach into the community. They give them responsibilities, and make them feel wanted, they empower them!