4 Troubled Teens Blog

Heralded as one of the great television series of all time, "The Wire" is often lauded for its realistic portrayal of the bleak futures and agonizing life choices facing many young people in poverty-stricken and crime-ridden areas of Baltimore, Maryland.

But one of the stars of "The Wire," Sonja Sohn, is using the show as a way to teach at-risk teens how to avoid the outcomes portrayed on the show. Derek Valcourt of Baltimores WJZ-13 described Sohns efforts in an Oct. 22 article:

Sohn started reWIRED for Change, a program that uses episodes of "The Wire" to coach kids fresh out of the juvenile justice system how to make smarter life decisions.

"If you've been on 'The Wire' you have street cred and so that street cred is currency. So why not use that currency for the betterment of other folks," said Sohn.

"She taught us how to think before we react to something. I stopped hanging with the people I used to hang with. So it's helped me a lot," said [18-year-old Latavia] Cornish. "I know my dream. I know I'm going to be successful. That's why I'm staying out of trouble. I'm on the right path now, so all I got to do is make sure I stay that way."

Sonja Sohn is already working with a second group of troubled teens.

Labels: prevention, outreach

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 0 Comments

For some kids, following in dads footsteps means board meetings and corner offices. For Alex Siniari and his brothers, following their father put them on the streets and in other less-than-desirable locations, all in the effort to locate and identify homeless and runaway teens in and around Atlantic City, New Jersey.

A June 21 column by Monica Yant Kinney of the Philadelphia Inquirer told the story of the Siniari brothers and their father, Steve, who is an Albanian Orthodox priest:

For years, Father Steve, who lives in Haddonfield, took his kids to work with him. "I told my wife I was in the chapel," he says. "She never knew I was taking them into housing projects and hanging around prostitutes."

Mike, the oldest, became a history professor. Alex never finished college, drifting between bartending and selling cars. "Nothing I was doing had any meaning or value."

In 2005, Alex applied for a job at Covenant House secretly, not sure he wanted it or how his father would react. [Covenant House is a privately funded program that serves homeless teens and young adults. Father Steve has worked there for years].

Since then, the younger Siniari married a coworker and landed a promotion. Today, as outreach coordinator, Alex is technically his dad's boss.

"Father Steve knows the streets, the kids, the issues," Covenant House New Jersey site director Brian Nelson told the Inquirer. "I see him mentoring Alex to take over."

Labels: homelessness, outreach

Posted By: Aspen/CRC 1 Comment

On any given day in America, nearly 1.5 million teens are living on the streets. Some have run away from home, others have been kicked out or lost their home due to circumstances beyond their control. The non-profit organization StandUp for Kids has spent the last 17 years training "street outreach counselors" to search for these kids and get them much needed help.

"The mission of StandUp for Kids is to help homeless and street kids. This mission shall be carried out by a national volunteer force whose on-the-streets outreach efforts will find, stabilize and assist homeless and street kids in their efforts to improve their lives... All facets of this mission shall be guided by the mandate that our volunteers shall tell kids they care about them and then, at every turn, prove it."

To date, StandUp has a presence in 30 states and over 60 cities.

Labels: homelessness, outreach

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Fourteen-year-old Brooke enjoys teaching Moose the Rottweiler how to obey. She feels accomplished helping Moose learn how to be a service dog for an Iraq War veteran. And in the process of teaching Moose, Brooke learns some things, too.

Brooke and Moose are participating in Teenage 180, a Tennessee-based Christian outreach program sponsored by the husband-and-wife team of Ronnie and Lisa Pollard:

“’It helps the animals, and it helps the teenagers as they work with them because they can relate to not having anyone who cares,’ said Ronnie, who added that some of the youths have been featured on Animal Planet’s ‘Last Chance Highway’ cable-TV series on rescued and adopted pets.” [Source: The Commercial Appeal]

Teenage 180 has several corporate sponsors, and is in the process of receiving is 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Labels: outreach, animals

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments