Athena Program

PBHA’s Athena Program is dedicated to increasing awareness, empowerment and activism of high school girls from Boston and Cambridge. The Program aims to unite young women from underserved, low-income communities in the greater Boston and Cambridge areas with undergraduate mentors who support and challenge each other in discussion and skill building around gender empowerment, community leadership, and youth activism. It includes a year-long mentoring program and a semi-annual conference, both focusing on topics relating to women and gender issues. For more information, please contact harvard.athena@gmail.com.

About the Athena Conference: The Athena Conference is a semi-annual, day-long conference that is held at the SOCH; this spring, it will be held on April 17. The conference is dedicated to increasing awareness, empowerment and activism of high school girls from Boston and Cambridge. The day includes workshops on topics relating to gender and women’s issues, a self-defense class, local speakers who work with women’s organizations and discussions and activities that unite girls from different communities.

Asthma Swim

PBHA’s Asthma Swim, in partnership with the HMS Office of Enrichment Programs/Division of Service Learning and the South Cove Community Health Center, allows HMS students and volunteers to provide health education and swimming lessons at the Chinatown YMCA for children with asthma and their families. For more information, please contact Molly Siegel (msiegel@fas) or Samantha Fang (sfang@fas).

STRIVE

PBHA’s STRIVE is a mentoring program for teenagers with sickle cell disease. The full acronym stands for Sickle cell Teens Raising awareness, Initiating change, Voicing opinions, and Empowering themselves. The full name encapsulates the values of the program. We aim to build a support network for teenagers to help them cope with chronic pain, foster confidence and self-advocacy, and guide students towards an auspicious future. We aim to do this through close one-on-one and group relationships with a focus on education and healthcare. For more information, contact Joseph Stujenske (jmstujen@fas.harvard.edu) and me, Melissa Alexander (lmalexan@fas.harvard.edu).

Native American Youth Enrichment Program (NAYEP) - Big Sibling

PBHA’s NAYEP Big Sib is a mentoring extension of the Native American Youth Enrichment Program. For more information, see NAYEP under Summer Programs or contact David Billing (billing.david@gmail.com) or Linda Zhang (zhang53@fas.harvard.edu).

South Boston Outreach Big Sibling

PBHA’s South Boston Outreach Big Sibling is a one-on-one mentoring program that matches volunteers with children ages 6-13. Our little siblings come primarily from three major housing projects in the South Boston area and are all participants in the South Boston Outreach Summer Program. As most of the children in our program come from single parent families and lack stable adult role models, volunteers are asked to see their little siblings once a week for 3 hours. Volunteers also participate in monthly group outings and volunteer reflection sessions. For more information, contact Liz Balaconis (elizabeth.balaconis@gmail.com), Tomasz Kula (tkula@fas.harvard.edu) and Dan Rea (drea@fas).

Strong Women, Strong Girls

Looking for a great way to help young girls build positive self-esteem? Interested in spreading the word about the awesome accomplishments of strong women?

PBHA’s Strong Women, Strong Girls program is a weekly mentoring program designed to provide elementary school-aged girls with the skills they will need to become strong and successful women. Using fun project-based activities, mentors will work with small groups of girls after school to teach important life skills including public speaking, critical thinking, and cultural sensitivity. For more information about the Strong Women, Strong Girls project please contact Emily Orlins (eorlins@fas) or Becca Vitale (rjvitale@fas), or visit the website at http://www.swsg.org.

King School Buddies

PBHA’s King School Buddies chapter matches Harvard volunteers with developmentally delayed and learning disabled kids and adults from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. Since all three sites are within easy walking distance of the Yard, volunteers can make their own schedules for visiting their Buddies each week. The goal of the program is to form friendships that are rewarding both for volunteers and for Buddies. In its ten years at Harvard, King School Buddies has grown to include nearly thirty committed members. Please contact Kathleen Brady (kebrady@fas) or Elise Sullivan (esulliv@fas).

Kids with Special Needs Achievement Program (K-SNAP)

formerly Cerebral Palsy Friends (CPF)

Join PBHA’s Kids with Special Needs Achievement Program (KSNAP)! Every Friday afternoon we plan fun and educational classroom activities for 4th & 5th grade special education students in Chinatown and South Boston, including field trips every semester. As a KSNAPista, you’ll have the power to change a young student’s life as well as the opportunity to have your life changed in turn. For more information, contact Julia Hansford (julia.hansford@gmail.com) or Kelly McPherson (kmcpherson12@college.harvard.edu).

David Walker Scholars Program

The David Walker Scholars Program (DWS) was created by members of the Harvard Black Men’s Forum to empower young men in under-resourced African American communities. Today, DWS is a collaborative multi-ethnic effort with the same message of empowerment for both African-Americans and Latino Americans. Specifically, DWS serves the George A. Lewis Middle School in Roxbury afterschool for 1.5 hours with group discussions, enrichment activities, workshops, and recreation on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Additionally, bi-weekly fieldtrips on Saturdays to sporting events, museums, and cultural events reinforce mentor-mentee relationships. Please contact Elliot Ikheloa (eikheloa@fas) or Justin Robinson (jkrobins@fas) for more details.

Committee on Deaf Awareness (CODA)

The Committee on Deaf Awareness works to promote understanding and awareness of the Deaf community. CODA offers on-campus American Sign Language (ASL) classes for Harvard students taught by a professional ASL instructor. Students can then use their ASL skills to participate in CODA’s mentoring program, which pairs Harvard students with deaf children in the Boston area. If you are interested in ASL classes or the mentoring program, please contact West (resendes@fas) and Caroline (clowe@fas).