On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 16, Sasha Bruce Youthwork will host two separate service projects involving youth shelter volunteerism and workshops for envisioning a more just society.
The AFL-CIO will host curriculum-driven workshops for youth in our Independent Living Program, Transitional Living Program , and Promise Place Shelter and raise the profile of young people’s ideas for racial, economic, and social justice, and will also complete a variety of maintenance projects at our Sasha Bruce House Shelter.
At the same time, Excella Consulting volunteers will complete maintenance projects at our REACH residential group home.
In 2008, on the eve of the Inauguration of the first African American President, then President-elect Barack Obama chose Sasha Bruce Youthwork as his volunteer endeavor on Martin Luther King Jr. Service Day. He called on all Americans to “roll-up their sleeves” in service to others. Eight years later, both partner groups, in the spirit of Dr. King’s social justice call-to-action, have determined to use this same venue to do just that.
“The recent recession hit poor families particularly hard,” said Deborah Shore, Executive Director of Sasha Bruce Youthwork, “and in light of shrinking government support for workforce training for disconnected youth, this opportunity to raise the profile of racial and economic conditions as part of a conversation for ensuring a more just future for young people couldn’t have come at a better time.”
For more information about the day of service, please contact Katie McCann at kmccann@sashabruce.org.