(San Francisco, CA)

The Beat Within - Disconnected Youth Become Connectors

Total Award: $60,000 over 1 year

To support The Beat Within - Disconnected Youth Become Connectors, a program designed to strengthen the literacy and communication skills of incarcerated youth and ex-detainees in San Francisco and other cities; and to create a statewide network of youth-related organizations that can provide articulate voices for public forums. The mission of the Pacific News Service (PNS) is to create more inclusive communications not only through the content it produces, but also through developing and strengthening youth media and ethnic media outlets that reflect and serve some of the most disconnected segments of our society. The Beat Within is currently offering 48 weekly writing workshops that serve more than 6,000 juvenile hall detainees per year in Northern California, Virginia and Phoenix. In 2003-2004, NCF supported PNS's efforts to refine and increase its programs while expanding into communities where graduates now reside. In 2004-2005 PNS will create tangible media products that validate the real life experiences of their constituents; provide participants with public forums where they can discuss issues that affect and concern them; build ties between youth-serving organizations with similar missions; impart communications and media skills; develop leadership skills and enhance the employability of their participants; publish 50 editions of The Beat Within; convene four youth forums at the Commonwealth Club and 12 meetings of the California Council on Youth Relations.

Program Contribution Breakdown:
$60,000 Arts and Culture Program: Objective I, Strategy 3