Hope For Youth

Summer Fun at The Recreation Program

Check out some of our residents shooting hoops and getting active! A major part of normal adolescent development is the opportunity for young people to participate in structured and unstructured appropriate recreation activities.

The Recreation Program at Hope For Youth is a way for youth and staff to connect in a positive manner in the program, it is also an essential tool for staff to use to role-model positive behaviors for the youth and allows youth to explore their talents and interest and improve their inter-personal skills.

Hope For Youth has established relationships with volunteer groups that provide sports activities, game nights, holiday parties and various other structured events within our homes. We also work closely with “Most Valuable Kids” an organization that distributes donated tickets to sporting events and concerts. Every effort is made to take youth to such events to balance out their lives. Youth residing at NSD will also participate in recreational outings to local beaches, parks and community events.

While in the Hope For Youth Non-Secure Detention Program staff will be working with each youth and family in order to assess their prior level of community involvement and in order to devise a plan to increase the amount of time they spend in positive youth development (PYD) activities. Suggestions will be made to become involved in community based organizations, school clubs and sports, as well as church groups, and for youth old enough, employment. Youth will be encouraged to spend as much time as possible in these prosocial activities with a goal of at least 5 to 10 hours per week. While these PYD activities may increase a youth’s self-confidence, research indicates they will likely decrease the likelihood of their involvement in negative activities.

HFY Recreation Program Manager currently oversees the recreational activities for all the youth of the programs with a special focus on in house activities that promote PYD such as yoga, basketball, arts and crafts, mindfulness activities amongst others.