Westhab's goal is to effect positive life changes
for alienated teens and young adults living in our family
homeless shelters. Our work aims to:
- Create
normative communities, in which young people receive
affirmation from others and enhanced feelings of self-worth
as a result of positive behavior and participation in
decision-making and problem-solving; and
- Provide the services and supports needed by each young
person to become a self -sufficient adult, at a point
in their development when they are capable of effectively
using them.
Through
peer-support groups, life-skills workshops, part-time paid
employment, individual counseling, academic support, community
service, and recreation, participants build self-esteem, peer-trust,
responsibility for themselves and their environments, and
understanding of how to work with their individual strengths
and deficits to set and meet goals for the future.
Thanks to a Westchester County Department of
Social Services grant, we were able to send a total of 30
young people on three week-long wilderness experiences during
summer 2001, where rigorous physical demands as well as group
and individual personal growth exercises provided opportunities
for life-changing self-definition, trust-building, and goal-setting.
