The thing is, not everyone’s parents are going to be able to get them to the museum, music practice or theater group after school. Like most folks (or as older people like to say, “grown ups”) young people’s lives can be busy and complicated by things like working to support themselves and their families and taking care of siblings.

As the folks over at the People’s Regional Opportunity Program told me, the Peer Leader program is meant to reach out to those kids and give them the help and support they need to be successful in high school and beyond.

So it was interesting to learn that Peer Leader had been put on hold until July because the budget came up short. Kaki Dimock, who oversees the program at PROP, said they expect to return in July, the beginning of the new fiscal year. But she said the larger issue is ensuring that something like this doesn’t happen again. Dimock said they’ll need to find sustainable funding, they just have to figure out the how to avoid this in the future.

Over the last couple of years I’ve had many encounters with the Peer Leader for stories and columns. Last May I went to Kennedy Park and hung around as kids from Blunt Youth Radio and Peer Leader worked on a radio program about life for young people in the neighborhood.

In December 2005 I crammed into a tiny room at Riverton Park and about a half-dozen young people sat around a table thinking up questions for a survey on what types of jobs kids from immigrant families end up with during high school and what misconceptions they face.

What strikes me every time I’ve stuck my nose into Peer Leader business is the fun they’re having no matter what subjects they’re trying to tackle – which typically deal with giving people a better picture of what life is like kids living in these neighborhoods.

Over the last month a few of the Peer Leader coordinators have volunteered their time to help young people in the program keep up with commitments like the Boys to Men Conference, Say It Loud and the Malcolm X discussion event.

Anna Allocco, one of the coordinators at Riverton Park, said what makes Peer Leader different from other programs is the relationships it creates. Without strong relationships you can’t talk to young people about things like avoiding drugs or preventing pregnancy, Allocco said.
Taking the time to get to know them and understand what’s going on in their lives is just the start she said. How are you supposed to talk to someone about the decisions they make in their life, she said, if you don’t know them?

E-mail this entry to a friend