The Parent Leadership in Action Network (PLAN) component of the PLTI will provide leadership training for Village Elders aged 55 and over willing to share their life experiences. Each community’s PLAN will be composed of teams of committed, active parents including fathers, foster parents and grandparents who are currently raising (or have recently raised) an adolescent.  They will be opinion leaders in their neighborhood who represent different experiences and skills.

 

Village Elders are trained to share their parenting skills, knowledge and stories with other parents around them who are struggling to raise adolescents in the U.S.  Having “walked the walk,” they share what they have learned about:

 

• The value of mental wellness;  How protective factors (examples below) can make a difference with teens;  

• Being able to talk about and talk through problems and challenges

• Providing a regular physical release for Village Elders and teens

• Surrounding youth with a strong support system (other non-parental, nonjudgmental adults)

• Using creativity to express inner feelings   Best ways to navigate the mental health system; and  Working through interpersonal issues related to the relationships in their lives (a key stressor for women and girls).

 

The Village Elders Initiative delivers on several key goals of the overall Parent Leadership Training Initiative (PLTI):

 

• Educates parents about the impact of ongoing stressors and traumas (i.e., poverty, violence, racism) on our youth, including those that underlie many emotional or mental health problems;

• Promotes protective factors that build resilience and wellness among urban youth and their families; and

• Encourages help-seeking for youth and families who need more involved interventions (both early interventions and more intensive treatment).

 

Village Elders Initiatives

 

• Community Food Project

• Community Gardens Project

• Community Organizing

• Financial Literacy

• On-site Seminars-Training-Workshops

• Parent Leadership Action Network

• Recycling Ambassadors

• Village Elders Community Engagement

• Village Elders Mentoring Program

 

Goals

 

1. Village Elders share their gifts and talents with the community.

2. Village Elders find positive outlets to remain active and involved.

3. Integrate Village Elders with disenfranchised families

4. Village Elders take an active role in community issues.

5. Provide nutritional, mental and physical health support via seminars & training.

6. Village Elders become “go-to” resources in the community.