Power and Promise
Youth participate in paid training programs that prepare them to successfully become mentors, community organizers, policy change advocates, and professional consultants for youth-serving organizations. These two-way, active forms of engagement allow youth to realize change in their immediate environment and begin to shift power to those most impacted.
Family Liberation
Assisting Indianapolis communities in establishing generational wellness by enrolling family units into services. Families work with Life Coaches to design and set development goals for themselves. Youth and families will be paid incentive stipends for completion of goals, participation in training/programs, obtaining advanced skills, or enrollment in post-secondary education. This approach allows for internal family motivation to be developed and removes barriers for communities to achieve success.
Black Male Mental Health
Partnering with local barbershops in Marion County, our agency used this safe space to bring mental health professionals to facilitate cross-generational conversations between Black men. As a result, VOICES reached over 75 youth and men in the initial year of this program, and it grew in 2022 to include wellness retreats for Black men.
Breaking the Vice Mentoring
VOICES saw a need to work with youth and families who weren’t connected through the juvenile justice or DCS system but were facing similar issues as their peers. This initiative provides services to “break the vices” of survival that have become normalized. Mentees are paired with mentors who’ve had lived experience but are provided formal training.
Healing Centered Reentry
Indiana has over 2,700 adult males and over 350 juveniles in Department of Corrections (DOC) and in Marion County, over 50% of black men return to DOC within a year. Through strategic collaborative partnerships, VOICES Healing Centered Re-Entry Program will provide returning citizens and their families with wrap-around support. Relationship building should start pre-release so that barriers are removed by the time citizens return home.
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice Practices focus on: Improving community safety and relationships, increasing accountability, and increasing competencies by repairing the harm done, rather than on punishment or blame. To learn more about VOICES Restorative Justice Services, contact Director of Adult and Family Services, Damita Jefferson at djefferson@voicescorp.org.
Youth Media
Real Talk is a youth media initiative that focuses on the topics Indianapolis teens care about most. Through a partnership with WISH-TV, the City of Indianapolis Office of Public Health & Safety, and the Holliday Collaborative, VOICES Corp. is supporting local youth (ages 15-19) through the development and delivery of quarterly televised town halls and monthly podcasts. Topics include social media, civic engagement, sexual health, and more! Check out our videos and interviews by clicking here. If you are interested in joining the team, please complete this form.
If you have questions or would like to share your expertise in an interview, please contact Director of Youth Services, Ashlee Weaver at aweaver@voicescorp.org.