Communities Empowering Youth program expanding in Jacksonville
As Director of the Communities Empowering Youth Program for FreshMinistries, Michelle Hughes has come full circle. A native of Jacksonville who attended Duval County public schools and earned her higher education at local colleges, Hughes is, indeed, an inspiring role model for empowering hometown youth.
After spending much of the past decade working with the interfaith community and the City of Jacksonville to strengthen family relations and bring about positive changes, Hughes is now utilizing her experience as well as her B.A. and M.A. degrees in Organizational Management to help facilitate the effectiveness and sustainability of seven local youth-oriented organizations.
Partnering with FreshMinistries in the Communities Empowering Youth (CEY) Program are: El-Bethel Development Center, East Jacksonville Neighborhood Resource Center, Family Nurturing Center, Jacksonville Hospitality Institute, Police Athletic League, Sanctuary on 8th Street, and Westside Church of Christ.
 “We’re working to help our partners enhance their ability to provide social services and expand their organizations by diversifying their funding sources and creating new collaborations within the community. It is our ultimate goal to reduce juvenile violence, child abuse and neglect and better serve the needs of Jacksonville’s disadvantaged youth,” said Hughes. Coincidentally, in addition to being a Franklin Covey certified facilitator to teach the 7 Habits of Successful Families, Hughes is the matriarch of her own successful family, husband Ralph, and daughters, Monica (a Senior at Florida A&M University) and Ashlea (a Junior at Wolfson High School).
Last year, FreshMinistries received the first $250,000 of a possible three-year $750,000 Compassion Grant from First Lady Laura Bush for the Communities Empowering Youth Program. “Our second year grant of $250,000 was recently approved,” said Grants and Financial Manager Karen Lee, as she and Hughes discussed CEY accomplishments in 2007-2008, and goals for 2008-2009.
One of several capacity building efforts that has garnered positive results during the past year has been the development of a new parent education/supervised visitation program model at the Family Nurturing Center of Florida. “We are thrilled to be part of the Communities Empowering Youth program,” said Stella Johnson, Associate Executive Director of the Family Nurturing Center of Florida. “Through the leadership of FreshMinistries, we now have the NurtureVisit program, providing parents an opportunity to learn new skills for successful childrearing and immediately practice those skills with their children with supportive coaches on hand.”
In addition to the NurtureVisit program, Johnson said their Center has joined Hands On Jacksonville and the Nonprofit Center and is now taking advantage of the resources offered by these agencies. “As we navigate this tough economy, we find it increasingly important to develop and strengthen our partnerships to ensure children and families have access to service,” said Johnson. “We hope to continue to grow with the help of Communities Empowering Youth and FreshMinistries.”
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