Education Program
The purpose of the Education Program is to advance college-going rates among all high school students, to ensure that current high school students achieve academic success and pass the Louisiana state standardized test, and to be a one-stop information and service center for students and parents. The staff at the center provide information on Financial Aid, Scholarships opportunities, the College Application Process, College Campus Tours and Academic and Test Preparation. Counseling volunteers and tutors from academic institutions provide on-site support for the students in the program. To ensure the advancement and success of the program, after-school tutoring, and the General Exit Examination for the 21st Century (GEE 21) and Louisiana Educational Assessment Program for the 21st Century (LEAP 21) test preparation is also offered.
After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the youth populations from Village de l’Est neighborhood needed something positive to look forward to. The Sports Program is run year-round and helps keep youth active. The Sports Program includes basketball, boys and girls’ flag football, and volleyball. The program is held at Village de l’Est Playground, which currently does not have any New Orleans Recreation Department programs running. The program’s major objectives are to encourage artistic talent, increase physical and mental health, foster self-awareness, and encourage selfless acts of kindness for the benefit of the community.
The Health Program is a pathway to the public health profession, and an opportunity for youth to become advocates for their community. Due to the lack of linguistic and culturally competent health services provided to the Southeast Asians and to the youth of the community, VAYLA began to partner up with various local and national organizations to create the community about health disparities and gaps in health care provision. From participating in course offered by professional community health workers, to participating in VAYLA’s Family Circle “support circles”, experiencing and building these skill sets will benefit not only the individual, but also the community.
Safe Space was created as an informal support group that meets once a week. It opens with an icebreaker that flows into the topic of discussion. Youth from the ages of 13 to 24 come to VAYLA to enjoy each other’s company and support. It offers youth a confidential space to talk to their peers about troubles or problems, and support one another by connecting on a personal level. It continues to have an open-door policy so new VAYLA members can transition easier into the daily life here at the Youth Center.
Hip Hop is a vibrant and multi-faceted art form encompassing the many disciplines of contemporary cultural and artistic expression. As the fastest growing of all the art forms, dancing can have a powerful effect on people’s lives, including physical, emotional, mental, and social benefits. The vibrant range of styles drawn from different cultures gives dance an impressive reach in our multicultural society. Hip-Hop dancing has a long history of successfully working with hard-to-reach groups and building a sense of social cohesion within communities. Dance is a wonderful artistic outlet that not only utilizes creativity and talent but also teaches discipline, builds character, and develops self-esteem.
In June of 2009, young people in the community wanted to use the power of story telling to preserve their culture and heal divisions within the Southeast Asian community. They also wanted to work towards incorporating voices from other communities in order to facilitate solidarity within the neighborhood. They used interview footage from oral histories of community members to create documentaries representing common aspects of their community’s history and experiences. They hope that this archive will continue to expand, becoming a home for our neighborhood’s history—a place where we can learn from one another and come together.
