Marrakech’s Work with Youth: A Model for Success!

The Work to Learn Centers are based on the Work to Learn Model developed by Alan MacKenzie of Street Smart Ventures (www.ssventures.com). The general idea is that when you integrate life and academic skills into paid work experiences, youth are more likely to retain the information and apply it to real life situations. 

At the beginning of the program, each youth participates in a Youth-Run Business, typically facilitated by a member of the local business community at Marrakech or at a local business nearby.  Each youth has the opportunity to participate in several Youth-Run Businesses for as long as they would like or until basic work readiness skills such as timeliness, ability to stay on task and following directions are demonstrated. 

Following the Youth Business, they can move on to an external internship where the youth will be mentored by a member of the local business community and paid a stipend from Marrakech. Finally, youth will be moved to job placement services to seek part time or full time employment.

All youth admitted to the Work to Learn program (90 youth at any given time between the two sites) have an Individual Development Account (IDA) opened in their name. Youth deposit a percentage of the stipend money towards their future savings. Youth who remain active with DCF and the Work to Learn Center may receive a match of up to $1,000 per year (not to exceed $3,000 over 3 years) when withdrawing money from their IDAs for the purchase of approved assets.  Approved assets are stock market investments or purchases made to meet educational, transportation or housing needs.

The Work to Learn Centers have shown that youth who participate in the programs are graduating from high school and successfully moving on to post-secondary training, college or full time employment.  In fact, many of them are able to access CHAP services (discussed in our previous blog post) to assist them with moving from the structured environment of foster care and the Work to Learn program, to living and managing on their own for the first time.

The raised beds in the picture below is one of the Work to Learn Center's Youth Business projects.  Youth are learning the basics of farming and are then able to use the produce grown in their culinary program.

Next up - DCF Community Based Life Skills Program – Learn more in our next Blog post!

Marrakech’s Work with Youth: A Big Part of Who We Have Become!

In honor of International Youth Day (August 12^th), we thought we would take a little time to showcase some of our youth programs this month.  While Marrakech is mostly known for serving adults with developmental and psychiatric disabilities, our consumer population has become progressively diverse over the last decade or so.  Many people out there, maybe even you, may not know that for the last 8 years Marrakech has provided dedicated programs and services to youth and young adults aging out of the foster care system.

It all started in 2005 when Marrakech began to provide case management services under the Department of Children and Families (DCF) Community Housing Assistance Program (CHAP).  While working with this population is a bit different than some of the work we have done in the past, it is similar to the other programs Marrakech provides in that the goals are all centered on increasing self-sufficiency and improving each young person’s quality of life. 

In order to achieve this, a Marrakech Case Manager works with assigned youth to help them move into their own apartments, teach them practical life skills, assist them with money management and household responsibilities, all while the youth attend school and maintain employment.

In 2006, Marrakech was awarded the Work to Learn program in New Haven and then in 2008, a second Work to Learn program in Waterbury.  In fact, Marrakech runs two out the five Work to Learn sites throughout the State of Connecticut!  The Work to Learn Centers serve youth ages 14-23 who are currently in or transitioning from the DCF Foster Care System. It serves as a stepping stone for youth who need to learn various life skills, develop their job skills, and strive towards graduating from high school. All of this focuses on preparing each student for some type of post-secondary education or training.  

The program also provides a structured and comprehensive calendar of activities that encompasses skill development in a range of areas including basic education, employment, financial literacy, life skills, and personal and community relationships.  Marrakech’s Youth Coaches provide additional case management support, advocacy and referral to other support services as needed.

Learn more about the Work to Learn Model in our next Blog post!

Marrakech's Quality of Life Department - The Fun of Finding Friends

Several years ago, we sent out a satisfaction survey to the people we serve and asked a simple, open-ended question at the end that went something like this: Besides the services you receive here at Marrakech (housing, case management, employment, etc.), what else do you feel you need that can make your life better?  The overwhelming response was friends, social opportunities, and community outings, especially for those who were living on their own or in family homes where the opportunities for socializing were significantly reduced. 

Friends.  Having, or not having friends is something that many of us don’t really give much thought to on a day to day basis.  That’s probably because we have them.   But friendships are important to our overall well-being.  Friends support each other emotionally, they are there for each other in times of crisis; they are willing to listen to each other’s point of view and give feedback when needed.  Friends choose each other.  Everyone deserves the sense of belonging that comes with being chosen by someone else.  Several barriers can get in the way of people with disabilities when trying to form friendships - limited opportunities to spend time with peers, lack of understanding regarding the level of support a person may need with helping to fit in or to facilitate an introduction, and the lack of continuity that is required in order for true friendships to form and stabilize over time.

So, in 2004, we started asking ourselves some questions.  How can we create real opportunities for happiness and joy to be found? How can we connect people with others in meaningful ways?  How can we impact the sense of isolation and aloneness that people feel?  How can we improve and empower the lives of the people we serve?

The answers to these questions led to the establishment of a Quality of Life department at Marrakech; a vehicle by which to meet the community integration and connection desires of our consumers as well as those in the community who had limited options for socialization and recreation.  Each month a Quality of Life calendar is jam-packed with center and community-based activities. The activities are facilitated by our energetic and enthusiastic Recreation Specialist and include but are not limited to bingo, arts and crafts, movie night, Zumba®, holiday parties, healthy cooking classes, baseball games, amusement park trips, shopping trips to New York and a self-advocacy group, just to name a few.   

The Recreation Specialist ensures that participants are fully engaged and have a great time at these events. New activities are planned based on the interest of the consumers who attend.  We make sure these activities are kept affordable (an individual activity may cost as little as $4.00 to attend and a club card for a whole month of activities costs $40-$60) so that as many people as possible can access them at some level.

Throughout the month of July, Marrakech will feature our Quality of Life Department in our social media.  So, stay tuned to our Facebook page for more to come!  In the mean time, if you or someone you know would like more information about our Quality of Life activities, please contact Denise Stevenson at (203) 389-2970, ext. 1105 or dstevenson@marrakechinc.org.

Marrakech’s Health and Wellness Program: Growing Healthier Together!

It seems like more now than ever before, there is an enormous amount of attention on health and wellness.  Every form of media has taken on the growing health epidemic in America in some way, focusing a great deal on obesity, heart health, nutrition and exercise.  While Marrakech has always acted proactively in regard to the health and safety of our consumers and employees, we had not yet taken on this larger, broader issue of health and wellness in any organized kind of way.  Many of the people with whom we work struggle daily with their weight or health conditions that we know can be alleviated with heightened awareness, education and changes in behavior. 

And so, Marrakech’s Health and Wellness Committee was born in July 2012, deriving mostly from the personal interest of a few employees.  A call was put out to all, and we now have 15 active volunteer members who are mainly direct care or management staff of Marrakech.  They are joined by the Wellness Director from our insurance broker, Creative Benefits Planning.  To join a working Committee like this is no small undertaking.  Everyone on the Committee has other jobs to do - BIG jobs to do - but have each made a commitment to making health and wellness an integral part of the Marrakech community.

For a Committee that is not yet a year old, we have managed to accomplish quite a bit and we are really proud of this. Here are just some of the things we have done or are currently planning to do:

·         Quarterly, a Health and Wellness newsletter, entitled The Well of Health, is distributed to staff throughout the organization via Marrakech email.  Printed copies are also available and staff is encouraged to share this with consumers who do not have access to Marrakech email.

·        The Committee instituted a Marrakech employee walking/running group that began on September 25, 2012 and meets at our main office every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.  Employees at our satellite sites have been encouraged to start their own walking groups at dates and times that work best for them.

·         The Committee published a Healthy Living Calendar that featured one of our programs and a healthy recipe along with some nutrition facts for each month.  It included pictures of our consumers shopping for ingredients or making and eating the actual recipes. 

·        Between January and April 2013, Marrakech had its first employee weight loss challenge.  Thirty-nine people registered and weighed in.  Throughout the challenge, we offered monthly information sessions facilitated by a naturopathic doctor and a runner/athletic coach.  We also sent weekly articles and resources out to the group to help keep them motivated and to provide helpful information as they tried to change old habits. Participants were given free registration to our Spring 5K Walk/Run, which many participated in.

·         On April 3^rd, we had a “wear your sneakers to work” day to honor National Walking Day and encouraged group walks at our various sites.

·         April 22, 2013 kicked off a six-week walking/fitness challenge to encourage everyone to move a little more.  We provided trackers from the American Heart Association (AHA) and asked that people record their exercise on it each week for the six week period, through June 2, 2013.  Daily Healthy Living Tips and weekly articles (provided by the AHA) were distributed throughout the challenge.  Those who participated will be invited to a celebratory healthy lunch and prizes will be given to those who made the most progress and logged the most minutes over the six weeks.

·        Over the summer of 2013, a three-part series on nutrition and weight loss facilitated by a naturopathic physician will be offered free to employees and consumers. This may be accompanied by a new Team Weight Loss Challenge.

·         In October 2013, Marrakech will host our first Health Fair.  After surveying employees, the fair will focus on self care, nutrition and weight loss.

·        Marrakech recently applied to be considered a Fit Friendly site by the American Heart Association. 

On June 4, 2013, Marrakech was awarded the Large Employer Business of the Year Wellness Award from the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce’s Health Care Council for the work we have accomplished in this short period of time.

Changing habits and decades old learned behavior isn’t easy.  It will not happen overnight or simply because of one great campaign we implement. 

But when we hear that a staff person asked if there can be salad in addition to pizza at a meeting because of something they read from us; or an employee is excited to tell a Committee member that she has changed some of her eating and exercise habits because of the articles we sent out and feels so much better; or when several consumers and staff stop by the office from time to time to weigh themselves on the scale we have here because they are more aware and motivated now, then we know something is starting to happen.  We are moving in the right direction.

We understand that it is going to take a lot of time but we are committed to seeing this process through and helping our employees and consumers grow healthier together.

Throughout the month of June, Marrakech’s Health and Wellness Committee will be highlighted on our Facebook page.  We kicked this off by posting a picture of some of the committee members who were able to attend the Health Care Council’s award breakfast on the 4^th.  Check out our Facebook page (and “Like” us if you haven’t already, www.facebook.com/MarrakechIncCT) to see what else the Health and Wellness Committee will be up to this month! 

For more information on our Health and Wellness programs, please feel free to email us at healthandwellness@marrakechinc.org or call Jill Cretella at (203) 389-2970, extension 1101.