Today is the day- YOUTH NETWORKING

Date - Thursday, November 5th 
Time - 4:30- 8:00
Event name- "Difference Made By Youth Leaders"
Location - DeKoven House, Middletown, CT
This event is run by youth for youth!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE......The Winner of the PFF Photo Contest is RYASAP

There were many wonderful entries to the "Youth + Community Voice = Positive Change" PFF photo contest and we thank everyone who participated! The winning photo submitted by RYASAP is of their "members of YouthSPEAK, a social action group of greater Bridgeport... at a performance of [their] Issue Fashion Show that voiced facts about teen dating violence, rape, and abuse and created a powerful starting point for an open community-wide conversation about healthy relationships." According to the young people in the program, they plan to use the $500.00 prize to purchase a mini projector so they can share their message with larger groups of youth in the community. Congratulations RYASAP!

October Spotlight: Youth Making a Difference in New London

At PFF we will be showcasing monthly spotlight articles on individual youth and adults who are passionate about their work in supporting youth voice in Connecticut. Our first spotlight features Jessica Cartagena from FRESH New London.

My journey with FRESH New London has been my biggest Passion since I started in the summer of 2006. My name is Jessica Cartagena; I’m 19 years old, I’ve grew being part of FRESH, from Youth Crew Member, Youth Leader to staff as the FRESH Community Organizer. I love working at FRESH, I feel like an agent educating the people in New London. At Fresh my work contributes on a lot of things to revitalize New London such as; build gardens which beautified the community, run programs for New London youth which not only employees them but seek to inspire and empower them. New London is a very small city and where I manly grew up since I moved from New York in 1996. I get paid for my work at FRESH its not much but I don’t care for the money, I rather do a job that I have a natural passion for. I always thought that you can only help the world by running as president or becoming a doctor. My involvement at FRESH helped me figure out that there is more than just doing those two things. I learned that it’s not just one person to run a country or help cure a patent. It takes everyone in collaboration to make things happen.

To further advance my knowledge and skill building I was honored to be accepted for the Public Allies (PA) Class of 2009/2010. The application was a very intense and about thirty people were selected; for every Public Ally that were chosen five other people could’ve filled each person place. Most of the Allies that were selected were college graduates from some top universities such as: Yale, Notre Dame, Trinity, UCONN and many more. Well as for me, I only just graduated high school one year ago. That makes it more of an exciting opportunity and I’m glad to have competed with such advanced people. Public Allies will help me to develop better professional working habits and more community organizing skills, as well as add a positive Public Allies perspective as I go through this transition in building myself & FRESH. This is a stepping stone to further my passion to change my world here in New London in little ways, that make a Big difference.

--Jessica Cartagena, 19, New London CT

If you would like to contact Jessica to hear more about FRESH's Youth initiatives, her contact information is:

Ms. Jessica Cartagena,
Outreach and Community Development
FRESH New London
FRESH Office: 860-444-8050 x14
Work Cell: 860-501-0003
Email: ms.jcartagena@gmail.com

New Haven Youth Event: What is your opinion?

J.J. Harris is an organizer who develops summer programs and other activities on behalf of youth in his community. J.J. had attended programs at Solar Youth in New Haven, when he was in high school.

Recently, J.J. organized an event that took an interesting turn. Please share your comments on the situation described in the article below. What do you think?

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/block_party_res.php#017271more

Be Our Guest- attend an inspiring documentary film

The Perrin Family Foundation and
The Norwalk Community College
Fairfield County Women’s Center
Invite you & a friend to be our guest at the
“viewing” of Pray The Devil Back To Hell
Abigail Disney’s award winning Peace Tour documentary!

October 13th, 11:30-1:00
The PepsiCo Theatre
Norwalk Community College-East Campus
188 Richards Avenue, Norwalk, CT

Please RSVP to reserve your spot
Kweldon@perrinfamilyfoundation.org
To learn more about the film- go to
www.praythedevilbacktohell.com

Update: Youth Activist Network Event

To all PFF funded youth engagement groups, please mark in your calendars the following:

Youth Activist Networking Event

Thursday, November 5
5:00-8:00 p.m.

deKovan House Community Center
27 Washington Street
Middletown, CT

Youth will be providing more information in the upcoming weeks.

Youth Activist Network Planning Group

“In May 2009, The Perrin Family Foundation called together a group of youth to talk about how youth across Connecticut are working hard in taking action to make a difference in their communities. We learned that youth don’t necessarily know about other youth groups who are trying to bring about change. Youth from Hartford and Waterbury agreed to come together as a group this summer to plan for a fall event for CT youth activists to network with one another.”


We are as pictured left to right:
John Castillo from the WOW (Walnut Orange Walsh) Youth Leadership Council in Waterbury,David Boodoo and Luis Serrano from the Waterbury Community SADD Club (Students Against Destructive Decisions.), Jennifer Supersad and Jessica Flores from the Institute for Community Research (ICR) in Hartford.

PFF Photo Contest

Perrin Family Foundation Celebrates
15 years of Philanthropy!

“Youth + Voice in Community = Positive Change”

In celebration of our 15 year anniversary, we would like to invite our current grantees to participate in a few fun contests and challenges through out the year.

To kick things off, we will Jump Start this initiative with a PFF Photo Contest… after all a picture is worth a thousand words! Each grantee is invited to submit a current photo of youth in action that embodies the formula:

“Youth + Voice in Community = Positive Change”

*We are eager to see photos that highlight youth engaging in their community. Please share with us in 50 words or less, how and why you selected the photo for submission to PFF Photo Contest.

* The prize will be $500.00 to be spent on a program enhancement as determined by the youth in the program. The winner will be announced on our blog mid October.

*Please send us your photo, your brief write up on why you selected it and our signed photo release by September 30th, 2009.

Send to:

The Perrin Family Foundation
4 Prospect Street
Ridgefield, CT 06877

or email to kweldon@perrinfamilyfoundation.org

Good Luck!
PFF Board & Staff

YOUNG PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY PROJECT AIDS THE DVCC

Except From the DVCC eVoices newsletter-
Early in the spring, 15 young people from Stamford joined the Children's Leadership Training Institute course and collectively chose to do a community project. CLTI parallels a Parent Leadership Training Institute course devoted to leadership skills and community building that enables adults to be advocates for children and change agents for the next generation. The students, who ranged in age from five to 16 years old, used their democratic leadership skills to look at different area agencies, evaluate what they do in the community and then vote on one to be the recipient of a fund-raising project. The DVCC was the agency they chose. Throughout the second half of the 20-week course they collected pennies from the community and, upon graduation, presented the DVCC with a check for $100. What a wonderful example of democracy, compassion and action!

LEAP's Youth Action Day

According to Christine Bartlett-Josie "LEAP’s Youth Action Day to take place July 31:
Local high school and college students raise awareness of the impact
of homelessness and violence on young people and the community
On Friday, July 31, LEAP is holding its annual Youth Action Day in New Haven.
Youth in Leadership, Education & Athletics in Partnership (LEAP) programs will gather on the New Haven Green to present information, science boards and opinions about the prevalence of homelessness in New Haven. Community organizations will also provide materials at booths, teens will present PSAs, and residents can speak.

“We know that youth engagement activities keep youth connected to their community,” says LEAP Executive Director Erik Clemons. “The Youth Action Day shares the hard work of our young people with the larger community and gives them a true voice.”
The Youth Action Day is the culmination of summer-wide work by young people ages 13-23 to research and enunciate how homelessness affects their community. Station topics will include Violence in New Haven, the Economic Crisis in New Haven, and Inspirational Stories. This project is supported through a grant from the Perrin Family Foundation."