Thompson St. Youth Gear Up For Second Summer

by Paul Bass | April 25, 2008 12:56 PM | | Comments (1)

DSCN9105.JPGJavaughn “J.J.” Harris helped keep Newhallville cool last summer. He’s looking for help to do it again.

Along with a neighbor and fellow high-schooler, Caprice Taylor, Harris (pictured) formed the Thompson Street Youth Coalition. People were worried about what kids were going to do over the summer — and whether a rash of shootings would continue to plague neighborhoods like Newhallville.

J.J. and Caprice found ten donors around town to help them launch a summer program for the many kids on their street. Their block alone had 15 kids between the ages of 9 and 12.

Their program was a success. J.J. and Caprice, with the help of volunteers (including J.J.’s mom), kept 15 children busy for six weeks. They took the kids to museums and arcades and organized activities in town.

J.J., now a graduating senior at Metropolitan Business Academy, plans to study computer design next year at Gateway. Before that, he and Caprice hope to run their summer program on a larger scale. They’d like to expand it from four to five days a week and include 30 children. They’d also like to hire an adult at $10 an hour to help the run the program, along with five counselors. The program will have more of a focused curriculum this year centered on electricity, water, and wildlife. (The organizers work with the Solar Youth program.)

The coalition is seeking money from the city’s Youth@Work summer-job initiative for the youth counselors. It’s looking for a public school building as a main site. Meanwhile, it needs Independent readers to come through again, to help them help keep kids busy and the streets cool this summer. They’re looking to raise $2,500. Here’s the contact info if you’d like to donate: Thompson Street Youth Coalition, 73-75 Thompson St. New Haven, CT 06511; (203) 773-0200.







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Posted by: Cynthia Rojas | May 1, 2008 10:27 AM

While JJ may not remember me personally, I have known about him for years. JJ started as a young person involved in Solar Youth's program. He then moved on to becoming a board member and now he is running his own organization. JJ is a great example of the wonderful work our youth organizations do with young people. Solar Youth is a wonderful program that works hard to teach young people about the environment - they also teach young people leadership skills. Hooray for Solar Youth and a double Hooray for JJ. The message...young people are a prized asset and we should treat every single child as such - their potential is limitless and we should encourage them. JJ...I am sending a check today to help you with your summer program...I also applaud you for your vision, commitment and desire to give back all the valuable learnings you gained from Solar Youth! Lastly, I applaud all youth programs who work so hard to keep kids safe while encouraging them to make change...we must all continue to invest in our children - I can't think of a better investment!

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