Character, Leadership, and Community: A Case Study of a New Orleans Youth Program

• Main Author: Colbert, Candace
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UNO 2019
• Subjects: New Orleans; youth; participatory action; empowerment; engagement; Community-Based Research; Educational Sociology; Race and Ethnicity; Social and Cultural Anthropology; Urban Studies and Planning
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2597; https://scholarworks.uno.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3799&context=td

Youth outreach programs use innovative and community-based activities to fill in gaps of education, provide creative outlets, create access to opportunities, and empower youth.1 This research investigates, records, and compares the ways in which staff and youth participants perceive the experience at a New Orleans youth program. The purpose of the research is to provide insight towards potential program improvement. The participants of this study are from Compassion Outreach of America’s summer program Project Reach NOLA in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. There are twenty-nine participants, between the ages of fourteen and fifty years old. The participants are directors, staff members, and youth enrolled in the program. The mixed-methods utilized are: focus groups, interviews, surveys, and observation. The study emphasizes the inclusion of participant voices and their positioned expertise.2