Strategic Initiatives
Runaway and Homeless Youth
MANY’s roots are in the field of runaway and homeless youth services. Founded in
1988 by services providers, MANY has provided leadership and support to grantees
operating programs that offer alternatives to involvement in the child welfare and
juvenile justice systems for more than 18 years. These programs create a community
safety net for youth that have runaway from home, are without a home, or have been
thrown out of their homes by their parents or guardians.
These services are unique and require a unique approach to staff and program development. MANY builds the capacity of these organizations and their staff through training, technical assistance, networking, convening, and education.
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Mentoring Children of Prisoners
When U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched its Mentoring Children
of Prisoners initiative in, MANY was asked to develop training and technical assistance
support for the newly funded grantees and to outreach to potential grantees in order to
assist them in developing an application for federal funding. As a result, we had the
opportunity to learn a great deal about this body of work, the experts that support its
development, and the resources that support effective implementation. As one grantee
stated “It is unusual to find an agency with such diverse training skills and an
intricate understanding of the issues facing children of incarcerated parents.
They do great work and I would recommend them to anyone in need of training or
technical assistance”.
- Amachi: In 1999, MANY began working with the Amachi program during its pilot
phase in Philadelphia. Amachi is a faith-based mentoring model for children of
prisoners launched by Dr. Rev. W. Wilson Goode in partnership with Public Private
Ventures and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. Recognizing the unique
characteristics of this program, MANY developed a customized T&TA model to
support the development of this initiative. The impact of this work is demonstrated
by program outcomes that far exceed targets.
“Our Volunteer Coordinators are still talking about the training they had with
MANY and how useful it was” -- Dr. Wilson Goode.
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AmeriCorps
The opportunity to “give back” is just one of the many benefits of
community service. In 1994, MANY launched our AmeriCorps program as
one of the first grantees in this new national program to promote
active citizenship. Together with several of our member agencies,
MANYCorps was launched as a capacity-building strategy for runaway
and homeless youth programs. Today, MANYCorps Boosters provides this
same opportunity. Learn more about AmeriCorps by visiting
www.nationalservice.gov.
Interested in learning more about how AmeriCorps can expand your program’s impact? Contact us.
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Dating / Relationship Violence
Much has been written about helping youth to develop healthy dating relationships.
Schools have integrated this into their curriculums and faith communities have
addressed it through youth groups. Unfortunately these are places that are not
typically where one would find a runaway and homeless youth and, yet, unhealthy
and violent relationships are all too common in their lives. Domestic Violence
programs and Runaway and Homeless Youth programs have much to learn from one
another but it is rare to find collaborations between these fields. MANY and
the PCADV (Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence) collaborated to
bring these two systems together as a Learning Community to share information
about one anothers’ services and to develop strategies and tools to improve
outreach and services that address the shared concern. Together we have learned
a great deal and have developed tools to expand our work beyond the learning
community so that others may benefit.
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Positive Youth Development
National Network for Youth Community Youth Development Project:
Under this Dewitt-Wallace funded project, MANY was part of a group
of leaders in the youth services field who did pioneering work in
developing the philosophical framework, curriculum, and training
materials that are accepted today as part the PYD approach. Over a
10-year period, this national team developed a solid foundation of
materials and approaches that are the core of MANY’s PYD training program.
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Baltimore Homeless Youth Initiative
MANY is a convener and facilitator for the BHYI. This initiative was created in
response to a need for a comprehensive continuum of housing, resources, services
and care for Baltimore’s homeless and unstably housed youth and young adults
between the ages of 14-24. While Baltimore has many valuable resources for the
homeless, there are significant gaps, especially for older youth. Very few services
are available for youth under 18 and most facilities and programs are not designed
to be developmentally appropriate for youth ages 16-24. They do not have the capacity
to provide significant supplementary service and there are few coordinated linkages
among the services to this population. In 2007, BHYI and MANY received a three year
Compassion Capital Communities Empowering Youth grant for $750,000 from U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services. The goal of the grant is to increase the sustainability
and capacity of BHYI and the community to serve homeless youth. The grant provides
funding for technical assistance and training in the areas of leadership development,
organizational development, program development and community engagement.
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