YOFES serves children and Families living in the Greater Boston Area.

Currently funded programs include:

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Youth With a Choice (After School)

This after-school program works to prevent teen pregnancy through a youth development curriculum based on abstinence. The program also offers help with homework, tutoring and reading, and students can choose between 3 activities: martial arts, dance, and music education. At the end of the school year, students showcase their talents for family members, friends and invited guests at a public presentation. Most students improve their school their grade because of the support they get for homework.

Childhood Obesity Prevention Program

This program uses the Blue Cross/Blue Shield “5-2-1 Jump Up and Go!” curriculum to promote good eating, decrease time spent with TV and increase exercise to one hour every day.

Youth Builders Program: Summer Program

Continuing activities in the youth development curriculum above, this summer program also offers a variety of activities to enrich youth, increase social skills and resilience to prevent delinquency. In addition to martial arts, music, and dance, the youth also participate in a reading club and go to several field trips.

Parent Education and Support Network: “Families united for Teen’s Health”

This program, offered in several churches in the local community, provides workshops on “parental management of adolescents,” with a goal to increase parental understanding of the changes of adolescence and improve communication with youth. The program also encourages parents to share experiences, information and resources about youth, and to establish lasting relationships with others facing the same issues.

 Association of Haitian Parents:

This intervention aims at reviving the parents association as an audible and, authoritative voice, and as a support network for parents in the Haitian community.

HIV education for young women

This gender-focused social skills training intervention seeks to reduce HIV risk behavior by enhancing self-esteem and self-worth, encouraging gender, ethnic, and cultural pride, and emphasizing the importance of communication skills in making life-affirming decisions.  The program has been adapted to be culturally appropriate for Haitian women, and is presented in Creole.

Yearly conference for youth interested in biomedical careers

This youth led initiative gathers health professionals from various fields to network and share information about their discipline with high school youth.  Graduate and undergraduate students conduct workshops about admission and financing of college and give tips for success. The morning plenary session stresses the relationship between different disciplines and health, and focuses on a health problem that affects the Haitian communities in Haiti and in the Diaspora.  This program also has a mentoring component for youth interested in biomedical career. This is a collaboration with the Haitian Health Institute.

Suzuki Institute of Boston

OAMEC works in collaboration with the Suzuki Institute of Boston.  All of our music teachers come from the Institute and Mr. Donald Becker the Director of the Institute provides regular training to all of our teachers to ensure quality of the teaching and of the program.

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