The Detroit Boyz Rock initiative was glad to once again partner with Odis Bellinger and Building Better Men in having a Golf Academy for our young men in 2024.
This is the fourth year of this partnership, and it was a successful program and built upon what was created for the boys in 2023.
This year’s program had 25 kids (up from 17) sign up and we also has 12 kids return from the 2023 program and you could definitely see the improvement!
Mother Nature rained us out for a couple of weeks, however we completed the program successfully. Thanks to the parents and community for sticking with us through the delays.
This years instructors came from Hollywood Golf Institute who really created with the kids how to play the game in a fun, disciplined and engaging way. A solid foundation upon which to build and we look forward to doing this again in 2025!!!
Below are some pictures that we took from this year!
We also request that you make a donation, to keep this and other programs for our young men going by clicking on the link below:
Highlights from this year’s 8th Annual Bridging 23 Unity Walk.
Participants started at Washtenaw United Way in Ann Arbor and walked in the community to Brown Chapel AME Church in Ypsilanti. Bridging US 23 was founded on the belief that when people unite for the greater good, positive change is inevitable.
Developed in collaboration by The Dispute Resolution Center (DRC) with The Association for Youth Empowerment (AYE), Bridging US 23 is dedicated to transforming the way the people of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and the surrounding communities relate to one another.
Our ultimate goal is to connect communities, inspire compassion and take action to call forth the beloved community.
This video was made by Sumixam Media Group and 4CPT Productions.
The Detroit Boyz Rock was glad to once again partner with Odis Bellinger and Building Better Men in having a Golf Academy for our young men in 2023.
This is the third year of this partnership, and it was a resounding success. With us finally not being restricted by COVID, this was the best one ever and we look forward to continuing this in the years to come!
This year’s program had 17 kids sign up and participate and all of them have golf clubs and/or sets to take home with them and practice.
They came to us with all different levels of experience, and they all learned a lot more about the game than when they started.
So, look for them at a golf course near you.
Our lead instructor was Larry “ShotMaker” Clemons, a Detroit Legend who has taught many in our area, including Kirk Gibson! (And he also donated about 10 sets of clubs for the kids!
What really make this program rock was the volunteers. They made it so that the kids had individual attention and could really learn the game.
In addition to myself, the following people gave their time and energy to this year’s program:
Please support this iniative so that we can bring programs like this and others to our young Black Boys. We intend to create a new future for them and we need your support:
In what has been a challenging couple of years, we take a moment to acknowledge all that we have to be grateful for. You, as a supporter and partner of AYE, are at the top of our list. Your support has enabled us to foster connections with community leaders and organizations who share a common goal of empowering the lives of youth and families.
In 2020-2021, we’ve made an impact in a variety of ways:
AYE launched the Emerging Leaders initiative, providing a symposium for leaders in the midst of new work that is positively impacting the lives of youth. In partnership with the Better Detroit Youth Movement, this initiative provides a venue for the Metro Detroit region’s emerging leaders to gain exposure for some wonderful work while providing AYE’s community members and supporters an opportunity to contribute to raising the seed money for the work. Our first three events collectively raised nearly $10,000 to provide seed funding for 5 emerging Leaders and initiatives. For the first time, we engaged an Intern to help us do this work.
Golf: This summer our Detroit Boyz Rock! initiative partnered with Building Better Men and contributed $1,000 to continue to support Building Better Men’s golf clinic. This enabled the initiative to raise matching funds. In 2021, the donation allowed 43 young Black men and boys to experience the game of golf (Instagram post).
Journaling Sessions: Inside of our commitment to creating a world where young black men and boys are empowered to create and define for themselves what being a man is, we conducted two online Journaling sessions in summer 2021. We are currently planning to hold in-person sessions in early 2022.
Bridging 8 Mile donated $500 to the Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur 15th annual school backpack giveaway, benefiting over 500 children each year. AYE also donated 20 sets of hats, gloves, and socks to the D’faction project on the east side of Detroit. AYE raised over $4,000 to renovate the home of 3 orphaned young people
In partnership with the Washtenaw County Dispute Resolution Center, Bridging 23 hosted its first virtual community Peace Circle with resounding success. Leaders from Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti envisioned a shared future. The next Bridging 23 Community Unity Walk between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor is scheduled for the spring of 2022.
The Financial Peace Initiative focused on teaching financial literacy through the use of a game named Cash Flow, for high school students, young adults, and families. The game sheds light on everyday decision-making about finances, in a fun and learning context.
Our Community Development & Leadership initiative continues to thrive and has provided scholarships for 5-10 inner-city young people and youth mentors to participate in leadership development programs such as the Landmark Forum.
The community impact from the above activities were made possible through the generosity of our AYE community partners and supporters like you. Thank you for your continued support in furthering our mission this year and in the year to come. All of our initiatives are volunteer-led and are made possible by your and others generous donations. We invite you to make a special end of year contribution to support our initiatives. You can make a one-time donation or set-up recurring donations using the link below:
The Emerging Leaders initiative provides a symposium for leaders in the midst of new work that is positively impacting the lives of youth. It is AYE’s newest initiative, developed as a response to the need to use virtual tools that have become our lifelines since COVID-19.
Name: Shaton Dockery
Program or project/work title:The Vault – Youth Entrepreneurship Program
Project Summary: To teach and give young entrepreneurs the experience of starting and running a business.
The Emerging Leaders Showcase provides a symposium for leaders in the midst of new work that is positively impacting the lives of youth. It is the Association for Youth Empowerment’s newest initiative, developed as a response to the need to use virtual tools that have become our lifelines since COVID-19. In partnership with the Better Detroit Youth Movement, this initiative provides a venue for metro Detroit region’s emerging leaders to gain exposure for some wonderful work while granting AYE’s community members and supporters an opportunity to contribute to raising the seed money for the work.SHOW LESS
At this time of year we take a moment
to acknowledge all that we have to be grateful about. The Association for Youth Empowerment (AYE)
partners with community members and organizations who share a common purpose of
recognizing social oppression and fostering respect, acceptance and compassion
in our families, schools and communities. In recent months we accomplished this
in a variety of ways:
In partnership with Ellen Abramson, AYE established an endowed scholarship fund at Washtenaw Community College in honor of her late husband and AYE founding member David Abramson, David Abramson’s Promise. This then inspired the Board to establish a similar scholarship fund at Wayne County Community College, David and Ellen Abramson Association for Youth Empowerment Scholarship. These endowments provide students with a financial need the opportunity to enter into the skilled trades.
The Hazel Park High School Empowerment Zone(E-Zone) initiative continues to thrive by creating a safe space for youth to connect weekly and inspire them to achieve their goals.
Bridging 8 Mile supported Yusef “Bunchy” Shakur in his annual school backpack give away.
AYE received a gift from The Rich Dad Company (i.e. Robert Kiyosaki) of two adult and one kids “Cash Flow” board games and sponsored community game nights to foster conversations that equip youth and their families with the tools for financial freedom.
In partnership with the Washtenaw County Dispute Resolution Center, the Bridging 23 initiative continues to foster community engagement through the use of the Peace Circle process.
Our Community Development &LeadershipInitiative partnered with the Miracle Workers group to scholarship youth in the Landmark Forum for Young People and Teens leadership training.
The community
impact from the above activities were made possible through generous donations
of AYE’s friends and family – individuals such as yourself.
We
invite you to make a special end of year donation to support our initiatives,
which enables us to continue this work in the year ahead. As a volunteer run organization, 100% of your donation goes to support
our initiatives to forward our mission of challenging and empowering young
people to create the Beloved Community. AYE is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization and your donation is tax deductible.
To make a one time or recurring donation, please click the donate button below:
Thank you so much for your ongoing generous support of AYE. Our
AYE friends and family support our work in a variety of ways, such as through
your time, treasure and talent. We are grateful for your participation in all
of its forms and know we wouldn’t be making the difference we do without knowing
you – every person in our communities makes an invaluable contribution by
simply being you.
We wish you and your families a happy
and fulfilling holiday season.
In the New York Times article, this quote says it all as to why we need to focus on young black men BEFORE they reach teenage years: “(At Birth) The gender gap does not exist in childhood: There are roughly as many African-American boys as girls. But an imbalance begins to appear among teenagers, continues to widen through the 20s and peaks in the 30s. It persists through adulthood.”
Other articles point out to the cultural factors that begin to pull on young black men as they reach their teen age years.
If nothing is done to address this, then this gap in availability and life outcomes will persist, impacting our communities and our families.
Freedom Links represents the first sponsored activity of Detroit Boyz Rock to impact the culture. One of the intentions this initiative is that for our young men, there will be a disruption to the “normal” in their lives and in turn the communities around them. They (and the community) will not view the “way things are” as “the way things will always be”.
Logistics
The goal is to sponsor 20 young black males to participate in a course of The First Tee
Target Age for participants is from age 10 to 14
AYE will fund a minimum of half of the cost of the enrollment costs (estimated at $600.00)
Timing is to be in the Late May/Early June time frame, depending upon availability of coaches
So why GOLF:
Golf is a sport where Integrity, Honesty and Respect are values in which are core to the game.
In golf you must
Integrity: Show up on time and be ready to play
Honesty: You are required to be fully honest about how you played (i.e. if you lost a ball, you need to be able to call that penalty on yourself, even when no one else is watching)
Respect:When others are taking their swing, you must not only be quiet and allow them to focus, but perhaps help them by telling them where their ball went.
Be a demand that others act the same way.
If we were to imbue that spirit within our young men, not only is this a game changer for communities and families and the outcomes of Detroit Boyz Rock will be realized, which are:
There is a new found appreciation for fatherhood and manhood and what it brings,young men know that their role is indispensable in their communities
Communities experience a sense of partnership and see value in uplifting their young men and are responsible for always working together positively to maintain that partnership
Detroit communities will know and appreciate the value of young black males and see them as vital to the city’s and the communities re-birth
There will be a disruption to the “normal” in the lives of young black men and in turn the communities around them. They will not view the “way things are” as“the way things will always be”.
Young black men will develop healthy friendships,partnerships and relationships that will continuously cause and support them to move positively forward
