Fifteen Detroit teens and young adults spent this past summer developing communications skills to share their expertise and experiences with decision makers, through a partnership between the Detroit Phoenix Center and the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions. The workshops were part of DPC’s Summer Leadership Academy and offered various ways for youth to share their perspectives – ranging from poetry to advocacy statements to vision boards and video interviews – so the teens and young adults could engage in a way that felt authentic to them.

The workshops focused on youth casting a positive vision for their future and a strength-based approach to maintaining their mental health  – a topic that youth leaders at the Detroit Phoenix Center have identified as a priority. The  Detroit Phoenix Center  is a nonprofit that provides critical resources, wraparound support, and a safe, nurturing environment to youth who are transitioning out of homelessness and poverty in Detroit. 

In recognition of November as National Homeless Awareness Month and National Runaway Prevention Month, the Detroit Phoenix Center and U-M are releasing a series of videos that highlight their perspectives.

Youth in the Detroit Phoenix Center's Summer Leadership Academy give advice to adults who work with teens.

"We at DPC believe that those who are closer to the problem need to be driving the solutions, so we uniquely position them to do so,"

said Courtney Smith, CEO of the Detroit Phoenix Center.

The Summer Leadership Academy is supported by Grow Detroit’s Young Talent summer job program, and the leadership academy aims to “build-essential leadership skills and explore future career opportunities through exciting hands-on activities, exclusive site visits, and interactive meetings with community leaders.” 

“Starting this program was very exciting for me because in the summer I like to do things that make an impact,”

said Kassidy Moore, a teen in the program.

For U-M, the communications workshops are an opportunity to highlight diverse perspectives on the needs of Detroit youth so that their voices can be a part of identifying solutions.

Click to play a video of Nina Williams reading a poem written by a youth in the Detroit Phoenix Center's Summer Leadership Academy, inspired by "Resilience" by Alex Elle.

“Youth supported by the Detroit Phoenix Center are passionate about providing better mental health support for teens, and these communications workshops allowed us to hear their ideas. Their voices are powerful, and I’m glad U-M can use its platform to amplify their expertise,” said Jennifer Erb-Downard, director of housing stability programs and policy initiatives at  Poverty Solutions .

Erb-Downward worked with Poverty Solutions Communications Director Lauren Slagter and Youth Communications Fellow Nina Williams to facilitate the communications workshops. 

Click to play a video of Kassidy Moore reading a poem she wrote, inspired by "Resilience" by Alex Elle.

Using Alex Elle’s poem “Resilience” and Amanda Gorman’s poem “New Day’s Lyric” as inspiration, the youth wrote poems that asked them to reflect and engage in their inner thoughts. Some of the prompts for the poems included asking about their current mood, how they handle stress, or a helpful lesson they might have learned. Other prompts were more challenging, asking about a vow or promise they may make for the future or something they felt was undesirable in their lives. 

“This program is really helpful for teens. It builds your resume. [You can] have a great time here. Have fun. And they offer lots of resources to help you throughout the day,”

said a youth participant in the Summer Leadership Academy.

Click to play a video of a teen in the Detroit Phoenix Center's Summer Leadership Academy reading a poem she wrote, inspired by "Resilience" by Alex Elle.

In the second communications workshop, youth learned an approach to writing advocacy statements that starts with clearly defining a problem. They then thought about who’s in a position to solve the problem, identified why that group should care about the problem, and offered a clear call to action and solution. Working in small groups, they chose a current stressor that affects youth well-being and mental health and then crafted advocacy statements to point to ways to better support youth in dealing with those stressors. 

Youth in Detroit Phoenix Center's Summer Leadership Academy give advice to teens.

“I think this impacts your future a lot, because I know last year after I had finished I went and immediately had joined another program that had similar traits that was teaching me about leadership and stuff. And I was grateful for the experience that I had last summer to give me that kind of beginning start before joining another program,”

said Azaria T., a Summer Leadership Academy participant.

The final workshop revolved around visions for the future. Each youth created a vision board based on their dreams, goals, passions, and visions of their future lives. After the creation of the vision boards, each youth shared with the group a photo that represents themselves as an ending creation. 

“My end goal is always with any program is to soak up as much information as I can and then process that information to other people,”

said Azaria T.

Youth in the Detroit Phoenix Center's Summer Leadership Academy share their visions for the future.