National Network Partner Spotlight: Sasha Bruce Youthwork

Sasha Bruce Youthwork is one of the largest and most experienced providers of services to youth in Washington, DC. Sasha Bruce helps young people find safe homes, achieve and maintain good physical and mental health, create and strengthen supportive and stable families, and explore opportunities in education and careers.

Sasha Bruce has been implementing Wyman’s Teen Outreach Program for more than a decade. TOP is an integral part of the supports they provide to teens, by providing engaging experiences that include tools and opportunities for teens to build a foundation of healthy behaviors, life skills and a sense of purpose. Through their TOP implementation, they have forged partnerships with the D.C. Mayor’s office, local detention centers, and public schools grades 6-12.

Implementation Overview

Annually, Sasha Bruce serves approximately 500 teens in their TOP implementation. This includes a variety of settings and locations across the Washington D.C. metro area including:

In-School

  • Ballou Senior High School
  • Hart Middle School
  • Johnson Middle School
  • Kelly Miller Middle School
  • Kramer Middle School
  • Maya Angelou Public Charter School

After-School

  • Washington Leadership Academy Public Charter School

Community-Based

  • The Clay Terrace Family Success Center Juvenile Justice Facility
  • New Beginnings Youth Detention Center
  • Youth Services Center

Community Service Learning

Sasha Bruce TOP Clubs recently partnered with Positive Chalk DC for a Chalk-It challenge. TOP students at Johnson Middle School and Excel Academy assembled bags with chalk and other goodies. They were encouraged to participate in the challenge by following one of the below prompts.

Option 1, Acrostic: Create an acrostic with your name. For each letter of your name, chalk a word or phrase that describes what you love most about yourself or your culture.

Option 2, Community Superpower: Pick or make up a superpower that you would like to have. Chalk your superpower and write a sentence or two telling how you will use that superpower to help people in your community.

Option 3, Positive Affirmations: WRITE POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS TO YOUR
COMMUNITY. You can chalk quotes, song lyrics, or something you say to yourself to stay motivated. You can write a quote or lyric and identify the writer/singer to acknowledge their cultural contribution.

Interested in implementing TOP in your community?

Contact:
Tori Gale, Director – Partner Development | Wyman’s National Network
tori.gale@wymancenter.org
314-712-2368