WE ALL LEAD Peer Coaching Day Camp @ LA Urban Farms

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Other San Gabriel Valley

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

There are three apex issues faced by society that require teen engagement: Mental Health, Social Cohesion, and Climate Action.
This program addresses the deep need to provide proactive mental health tools and skills to build resiliency and agency, not afforded by the current mental healthcare system or education system. Further, students are disconnected from nature, being outdoors, and knowing how to grow and harvest food, fundamental to life on earth. Finally, collectively, this population, we lack fun outdoor adventures.
Pomona teens face a gap in enrichment opportunities that provide safe spaces for meaningful dialogue, personal growth, and mentorship. Moreover, there are limited outdoor or farm-based experiential learning programs available for them.
This grant proposal aims to expand HVC's existing farm-based teen leadership program by transforming its current six-week, 12-hour curriculum into a series of two-day 12 hour camps.

WE ALL LEAD Peer Coaching Day Camp @ LA Urban Farms
LEARNING OUTCOMES
For students to achieve intended learning outcomes of WE ALL LEAD Peer Coaching requirements including:
New skill sets addressing: Emotional regulation, interpersonal communication, restorative justice strategies
New relationships formed and deeper connection to community
Deeper appreciation and connection with Nature, recognizing the larger view of ecosystems we live in and serve.
Dignity and self-worth: I am loveable, valuable, and capable.
Greater collaboration amongst nonprofit organization leaders
METHODS
We recognize an opportunity to serve the community better, whereby our teen-based leadership training model can effectively serve more students by evolving the peer coaching experience to take place in a fun camp atmosphere.
1) Evolve from a six-week program to a series of 2 day intensive camps;
3) Include place-based Indigenous wisdom of First Peoples and Latinx heritage-based approaches to student service. Contributing to the overall collective wellbeing.
4) Leverage technology with an app-based closed community to communicate, put skills to practice, and allow for fun and gamified connectivity during the Camp week. This curated learning platform also allows for pre- and post-test survey digital delivery, maintains a confidential digital space for the students, offers micro-lessons to practice and engage in camp activities and lessons, share photos, post announcements, and build relationships.

WE ALL LEAD Peer Coaching Day Camp @ LA Urban Farms has tremendous potential to scale. LA County has several dozen urban farms and schools. As we strengthen the model in Pomona we believe the template can be easily shared with school districts and local urban farms. When successful and at scale, a critical mass of teens will be trained well in positive mental health strategies and skills, they will know how to facilitate circles of trust at their schools to continue the efforts for teens to grow in their inner-development capacities and passions for service with environmental impacts, such as urban farms that feed the community.
The direct impact on youth is first their own personal development, but secondarily on their school culture around inclusion and belonging, space for dialogue on topics of unease and ways to get involved in the community that positively make a difference; growing food, feeding others, supporting the environment and its people.