Our Uniqueness

GP’s approach is unique in that:

(1) The program fosters racial healing and leadership opportunities connecting youth from the Diaspora with experiences in some of their countries of origin;

(2) The model is highly individualized for a year and a half core program with youth-led possibilities in the third stage as well as for our alumni;

(3) The group is composed entirely of youth from low-income communities;

(4) The experience fosters employment skills and long-term employment outcomes

(5) the international component is of sufficient length to allow for meaningful community understanding and impact

(6) Youth design and implement social entrepreneurship ventures to benefit their home communities

HOW:
GP is focused on transforming youth into agents of change for their lives, their communities and as global citizens. According to a GP student, “Youth like us don’t normally help out in other countries.”

The structure of the program models democratic practices, emphasizing reflective public and group dialogue, collaborative service, youth protagonism, and a deep commitment to justice and the greater social good. Participants experience both concrete changes in the physical, human and social capital of their communities, but also shifts in the structures of consciousness that lead to creative and socially responsible change.

DETAILS:
One student said he could “feel himself and his mind changing every minute.” The international volunteer service combined with social entrepreneurship is what makes GP so effective. With a $1000 prize, the 2008 group is creating a venture using art, sports and cultural exchange to engage adolescents in positive recreational activities keeping them from getting involved in drugs, violence, or other risk activities.

SYSTEMIC CHANGES:
GP tackles the lack of resources and a lack of innovative youth programming which may contribute to a self-sustaining cycle of poverty and crime among youth in Brooklyn. Through the appropriate use of new resources and an innovative program that can inspire youth about the importance of high school graduation and career choices, GP uses innovative approaches to build skills and self-confidence, while creating a sense of a wealth of possibility available to youth in regards to their future.

RACIAL HEALING:
By connecting minority youth to their cultural background and diversity in a positive context, they begin to view their socio-historical identity as a strength rather than a weakness. Our approach is experiential and involves personal transformation through group collaboration and goal oriented tasks. GP youth make up a multi-cultural group, including Dominican, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and African-Latin heritages. They go through a process of self-discovery in group discussions on race, privilege and identity prior to their volunteer experience. Once they are in the field (in a rural village in a developing country), students interact with one another and local community members as they take on specific tasks such as health workshops, construction projects, etc. As they work together to achieve common goals, the group develops from normative stages to performing stages. Trust is developed, creating a safe space for the discussion of differing perspectives and experiences. As barriers are broken, the group itself becomes a tool for the process of racial healing. GP youth gain pride as they serve others and realize their own potential. Students begin to conceptualize their place and purpose in the world in a new way. They develop an increased appreciation and understanding of different cultures, skills to negotiate across cultural divisions, and knowledge and confidence to become advocates for social change and racial healing within their own communities at home.

SUCCESS IN HEALING:
Our goal is for students to gain a more positive self-identity, build intercultural connections with others, and become more empathetic and understanding of different cultures. In addition, we hope that participants will be positive contributors and leaders at home, at school, and in their community, actively working for social justice and racial equity. The methodology we use to evaluate these outcomes are self-reported surveys that the participants fill out at four different points throughout the program.

One of the many indicators of racism and racial prejudice can be observed through the lowered self-esteem, motivation and hope of people who have experienced racial prejudice. After experiencing racial injustice over and over, one loses hope in the ability to receive fair treatment and the ability to overcome obstacles. For the case of the youth served by New Heights, this turns into apathy and may mean a reduction in academic efforts, the loss of vision for future academic or career opportunities, or the desire to create positive change. Many of the youth which New Heights and GP work with demonstrate the results of racial injustice, still have major difficulty reading and writing (in both English and Spanish or their other language of origin), are significantly behind in science or math, and feel hopeless or overwhelmed when it comes to future academic and career goals. The school system has failed them. This can lead to a future of low-paying jobs, poverty, violence, adolescent pregnancy, gangs or other potentially negative paths. GP and New Heights work to overcome these displays of racism by inspiring youth to create a vision for themselves and aspirations to work towards. In turn, these young people begin to see value in themselves and an improved self-image.

Our strategy foments positive personal transformations through active participation in education, dialogue, service, and cultural exchange. GP youth are empowered to see themselves as agents of change by leading service projects in the Dominican Republic. Instead of being the recipients of aid, these minority youth serve others in a marginalized community, and for what may be the first time, they see themselves as role-models and leaders. The process integrates students of various backgrounds who would not interact with one another otherwise. As students engage in this collective process, they reflect on the racial barriers and injustices each member has experienced, as well as their own perpetuation of such injustices. Barriers which were previously in existence become dismantled as bonds are formed. The process fosters increased tolerance among communities and improves the ability of the youth to put their problems into context while discovering solutions.

GP youth begin to see race, poverty and privilege in a new way, and their self conception changes as their cultural heritage becomes an asset. This empowerment releases participants from a relegated position of inferiority imposed on them by society and allows for healing. With improved skills to negotiate across cultural divisions, the participants return to their local communities and create culturally-appropriate social enterprise ventures, deconstructing racial barriers and becoming catalysts for local social change.

In New York and abroad, we aim for more equitable engagement of diverse people in local politics and decision making and improved educational outcomes. Rarely are people from underserved communities provided an opportunity to contribute to the greater good, but “I think that this trip gets people who are stuck in the cave out and helps them to see life in a new and different way” (GP Student).