Chandra DeRamus

April 10, 2023-Revised

“CYFAR Grant Uplift Empowerment Builds Self-Confidence in Youth with Life-skills Program in Hardin County”

Within the communities of Kentucky, there is a wealth of youth who are willing to learn and grow into leaders that will take us into the next millennium of new technologies and improved systems. One of the biggest challenges facing the commonwealth is our forever changing economy.  With new concepts in our workplace evolving everyday, we must be willing to create a vibrant and educated workforce that meets the needs of our ever-changing society. Within the Central Kentucky area, there are several new businesses, factories, and restaurants that are opening up over the next 5 to 10 years. As a result of the changes from Covid-19 and the marketplace changes, our communities will see a higher need for young talented and educated professionals who can solve various problems over several different industries within Manufacturing, Agriculture, and Health (Nursing). We will have to create a group of workers with the skills and abilities needed to assist with expanding this economy.

Two college institutions, Kentucky State University & University of Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension Services, have started the process of equipping this next generation of young leaders with the right skills and tools to meet that challenge.   The CYFAR (Children, Youth & Families at Risk) Grant which was established to create programs specifically targeted towards audiences that may not have access to certain programs. The CYFAR Grant is funded by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and NIFA (National Institute for Food and Agriculture) as an initiative that is focused on creating positive youth engagement.  The Life-skills program within Hardin County focuses on programs that focus on the following skills: communication skills, self-image, decision making, and setting target goals.

Over the last several months, September 2022-March 2023, the Life-skills program completed a series of classes on the following areas: Self Image and Self Improvement, Hygiene & Taking Care of Yourself, Needs vs. Wants, and Art Expression Workshop.  The focus for this program is with two community youth organizations within Hardin County.  The two community organizations have youth within the ages of 13-18 years old. Overall, there has been a total of 69 youth participants that have participated in the life-skills program within the Hardin County community. The kinds of classes and activities that were included in the program were focused on building self-esteem skills and resiliency.  In addition, there has been a series of programs focused on teaching activities that prepare teens & youth for developing effective skills on how to work as a team and skills on how to learn how to communicate more effectively.  

Interestingly, this program has had some great impacts over the last two years. 85% of the students involved with the program have been able to create goals to improve their grades and they have improved their grades by at least one letter grade.  The other biggest impact of the program was that one of the students wanted to attend college to pursue Nursing and was able to meet her goal of going being accepted into a Nursing program at Kentucky State University.  Several of the students that participated in our Financial Literacy component of the program, used some of the skill set that they learned about saving money and earning money to use to prepare them for renting their first apartment.  Finally, the life-skills program allows the youth to develop career goals and to start creating a plan for after high school.   By teaching students how to set obtainable goals, that guides the students on to setting bigger goals and reaching them.  Our hope is that a lot of the communication skills, leadership skills, and finance & budgeting skills that they have learned throughout the program will be utilized after they leave the program and transition into an adult life.  

In the future, our goals are to develop some collaborations with local community colleges and local career centers to connect the youth participants to some of those resources in order to assist them along to their next step in life.

CYFAR Grant Youth Development Pictures September 2022-March 2023

Pictured Above: Youth group participates in Teambuilding Challenge Activity, where youth participants choose a group leader and try to get the ball in the middle of an oversized parachute. Purpose of Activity to Build Trust (Youth from Sunrise-Glendale Children Services)

Pictured Above: This group picture features some of the youth preparing for an activity called “Pick Your Favorite.”

Pictured Above: FCS Agent, helps youth group to communicate only using hand gestures and eye gestures in fun activity used to work on non-verbal communication skills.

Pictured Above: Youth group creates art pieces at a Art Expression Workshop designed to help the students' express their creativity and have some time to reflect on their thoughts. This activity improves hand and eye coordination.

Pictured Above: Youth group's finished artwork on Small canvas, with shades from Primary, and secondary color stories on each separate canvas.