Program areas at Good Journey Development Foundation
Our Community Our World (Community Leadership Building, Self-Healing, Resiliency & Social Justice Leadership Development) Our Community Our World is a year-long program to develop youth leaders who actively work to improve their community and individual circumstances through self-awareness, educational, career, community involvement and development workshops, and cultural exchanges. Through weekly sessions, youth manage an urban farm, produce podcasts, create, and enact community improvement projects, volunteer in community, manage social media, and prepare to organize to address racism and social injustices, and develop skills needed for global youth leadership and cultural exchanges. Our Community Our World program youth participate in Bustani Ya Upenda (Garden of Love), Second Look Podcast, Social Media Content Creation & Management, LIVE Black Youth Corps Community Involvement & Cultural Exchange, and History Maker Marker Project.
Xpress U Thru Art (Youth Healing Arts) A multi-week program in which young people explore trauma, oppression, emotions, and build skills in resiliency, self and community care, and the ability to positively project internally and externally through the creation of art. The teaching artist guides young people in their work through 14 to 25 sessions and multiple art projects that speak to who they are and what they feel. The partnering counselor helps young people learn to communicate their experiences to reinforce and build upon their humanity to create space for healing Xpress U Thru Art youth make healthier life choices and develop as leaders.
Summer Leadership Academy (Academic Enhancement and Leadership Development) Summer Leadership Academy is a multi-week summer program that engages youth in academic enrichment, community projects, culture and arts projects, educational field experiences and fun and engaging activities that teach communication, life, and leadership skills. Participating youth learned about, visited, and reported on Black History in St. Louis. Older youth facilitate sessions on gardening, robotics, poetry and more. Youth share the values of collective work, responsibility, and unity, and knowledge they gained throughout the summer program with the community at the conclusion of their Summer Leadership Academy experience.
Art In Our World engaged young people in leadership development, the practice of confident communication and community service through the arts, as they served as exhibit docents. Young people experienced a new culture, learned a unique art form from the works of artists Myron Buchanan and Bongani Khumalo, and gain a greater understanding of the value of entrepreneurship through the creation of art.