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About
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About Us
Welcome to Generation Xcel, a holistic youth outreach program based in the Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Founded in 1996 by 13 local teens and staffed primarily by volunteers, Xcel now serves hundreds of children a year through after school education, summer programs, community outreach efforts, and more.
Xcel's "by
youth for youth" strategy - empower young people to create hope
for their peers by providing viable alternatives to the streets -
has been featured on local and national media and has been praised by
community leaders, parents, and public officials as varied as Mayor Giuliani
and Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY).
The Mission
Generation
Xcel exists to:
The Method
Outreach
Recruit kids when they're outside, where they hang out. Offer activities that they enjoy. "Chill" at public parks and pools, and coordinate athletics, talent shows and block parties.
Follow-up
Lasting change and genuine hope come from relationships. Build relationships with kids through follow-up activities such as mentoring, peer counseling, after-school programs, summer day camps, and community service projects.
Relevance
Keep it real. Staff must be willing to love the unlovely, embrace the rejected, and relate to everyday kids with everyday problems and pleasures.
The Strategy
By Youth...
Challenge local young people to think constructively about neighborhood problems and creatively about solutions
For Youth...
Then provide a vehicle for the kids to implement the solutions that they devise.
History
Champions breed excellence.
They are born of adversity. The story of Generation Xcel is the story of young champions from the projects who have experienced victory without leaving the ‘hood. Born into poverty and written off their entire lives, they demonstrate how supposedly powerless people can overcome. For more history, go here.
FACT SHEET
Download Generation Xcel's one page Fact Sheet here.