Enhance
2. ENHANCE: Building Capacity and Resilience
Impact on Poverty
- Asset Development: Builds both tangible skills (job readiness, entrepreneurship) and intangible assets (social networks, mentorship connections) that create economic mobility
- Resource Navigation: Enhances youth ability to identify and access available community resources, scholarships, and opportunities
- Resilience Building: Develops psychological resources to withstand economic hardship while working toward long-term goals
Impact on Violence
- Emotional Intelligence: Strengthens self-regulation and empathy skills that reduce reactive violence and increase positive social interactions
- Community Bonds: Creates supportive peer networks that offer alternatives to gang involvement and provide protection through connection
- Creative Expression: Enhances outlets for processing difficult emotions and experiences through arts, sports, and other constructive channels
Impact on Incarceration
- Positive Identity: Develops strong, positive self-concept that counters criminalized narratives often projected onto youth from marginalized communities
- Support Systems: Enhances family and community connections that provide alternatives to incarceration and support during reentry
- Accountability Practices: Introduces restorative justice approaches that enhance understanding of harm and responsibility without criminal consequences
Impact on Inequality
- Voice Amplification: Enhances communication skills and platforms for youth to advocate for themselves and their communities
- Leadership Development: Builds capacities that position youth to take on roles historically denied to members of their communities
- Network Expansion: Creates social bridges to resources, mentors, and institutions that have been structurally inaccessible
