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Residents Attend National Youth Summit in DC

Aug. 12, 2005 — Two young women from the Supporting Our Sisters transitional living program returned recently from a Youth Summit, in Washington, D.C. Priscilla James and Abena Allen, accompanied by SOS staff member Desiree Claxton, were selected to be the representatives from the Virgin Islands in the National Youth Summit "Youth in Action-Making a Difference," taking place on July 28 through July 30.
The summit featured guest speakers like Laura Bush and Alma Powell and included a series of workshops geared at promoting positive youth development.
The recurring question posed to the young people throughout the summit was '"What's next?" SOS resident James said that, "They wanted us to think about what we learned there and how you could apply it to your own community – like volunteering. 1 thought about volunteering in places like Herbert Grigg."
Other workshops that the SOS residents attended were Being Financially Fit and Flip the Script, which focused respectively on making financially sound choices and creative expression through spoken word. Allen, the other SOS representative, commented that a fifteen-year-old girl who started a library in her community inspired her. Echoing the vision of Supporting Our Sisters Allen said, "It takes more than one person to build something. 1 learned you can change things with other people's help."
SOS, Supporting Our Sisters, is the primary program of the Community Cares Connection non-profit organization. This 18-month transitional living program was developed by the Childworth: Support Services for Families to service young women in the Virgin Islands who are in need of a safe and supportive living environment and want to transition, successfully into independent living, SOS is funded by the same federal agency that sponsored the National Youth summit, the Administration on Children, Youth and Families of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
SOS continues to have a very active summer. In addition to participating in the National Youth Summit in July, it had an open house in June. For August it has planned a retreat on non-violence and a yard sale scheduled for Aug. 27, 2005. For more information about SOS or to participate in one of their events, please call 773-6747.

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