School was out last week for mid-winter recess, but our programs and services were still operating in overdrive. Our African American Male Initiative (AAMI), Comprehensive Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program (CAPP), and  Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) joined forces to create holistic support systems for young men of color in our programs. What resulted was Male 360°, a day-long assembly at Milbank that provided a multitude of resources to the youth in attendance.

A panel of adult male mentors started the day off discussing the importance of giving back to their community, how they found passion and purpose in life, and how mentorship was central to their individual successes. Their experiences ranged from being educators to working in corrections, and they drew parallels to the young men sitting across from them. “In a few years you will be sitting on the other side of this panel,” said one panelist, who had created his own nonprofit. The mentors were able to create a several more figurative mirrors for the young men, reflecting greater possibilities of who they could become.

Breakout workshops followed in the afternoon and were led by AAMI, CAPP, and OASAS staff to address healthy relationships, anxieties around college, and job employment strategies.

In organizing the event, CAPP Health Educator David Anderson believed that “we could give a little bit more attention and guidance to our young men.”

Children’s Aid is at its best when it can bring together programs from several different angles, and Male 360° is a perfect example of that. By ensuring our youth have access to all we can offer, we are giving them more than one way to succeed.