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YDC has been involved in youth work since its official opening in 2003. Direct involvement in multiple youth projects and public awareness, has helped the Centre to mature and develop its programmes.
The Centre's vision is to be a place of excellence, where youth are celebrated, cultivated in character, and challenged to lead purposeful lives. In short, we want to build roots and grow wings.
YDC reaches out to youth in 3 key approaches:
SAM: Sports & Adventure Ministry
SAM endeavours to bring fun, exciting sports and outdoor adventure programmes to youth in a relevant way. Activities include safety cycling, rock-wall climbing, inline skating, kayaking, soccer, camping and trekking. We believe such activities will provide significant life-changing lessons for youthful participants.
YAR: Youth-At-Risk
Dare2 is a preventive and developmental approach working with youth-at-risk. It consists of a 10-month group-work programme, involving weekly sessions with participants. The team works closely with parents and teachers to bring about transformation in the lives of youth. The aim of Dare2 is to set youth on a journey of discovery, so as to help them to develop and live out their aspirations.
Dare2 seeks to build youths who are:
- Self-assured, having knowledge and confidence in their own worth;
- Self-controlled, having control over their emotions, desires and actions through their own self-will; and
- Self-motivated, acting proactively to bring about the desired change in their circumstances.
Dare2 is targeted at lower secondary school students of both genders, who come from backgrounds that may cause them to be described as being "at-risk".
Drop-in Centre
The youth at our drop-in centre mostly live or study in the Kallang/Geylang Bahru area. Their age ranges from 12 to 16-years-old. Most are latch-key youth from low to middle-income families.
Our current membership as of February 2006 stands at 183.
YDC has two programmes:
Open Programme (Monday, Wednesday to Friday)
This is for our regular youth for whom we conduct group enrichment activities such as Arts & Crafts workshops, baking and music classes. Keeping physically active is important so every week young people are able to give some time to play sports such as Basketball, Captain's Ball, Table Tennis, Street Soccer, Badminton or Roller-blading. Of course, we make sure they also make good use of our study room by completing their homework, doing revision and studying hard. The 10 computers in the computer room are popular and give the young people opportunity to source information, helpful to their education.
m&m (Tuesday)
This year, YDC is passionately excited about its pioneer project - a mentoring programme for a small group of committed youth. m&m Mentoring & Metamorphosis" between Mentor & Mentee. Our conviction in mentoring stems from our belief that it takes one person's investment to impact another.
We liken youth to struggling caterpillars needing grace and truth in the growing process. The vision of m&m is to witness these youth morph inside-out (life transformation) through a mentoring relationship and emerge from the chrysalis as a butterfly, flying off into a new season of their lives. From what they learn, they will be able to make right choices, with beneficial and positive outcomes, as they journey through life.
m&m focuses on seven key areas of life management for the holistic growth of youth by seeking balance in :
1. Family (relationships with parents and siblings)
2. Finances (stewardship of personal resources, savings)
3. Personal Growth (mental and emotional)
4. Physical (health and fitness)
5. Social (friendship and BGR)
6. School (management of school demands)
7. Faith (to discover they each are a miracle of God's creation)
YDC conducts two-hour weekly workshops based on these seven areas of life management. Mentees also spend an hour each week with their mentors for follow-up of the workshop content. Through this important sharing relationship, mentors, who become role models, aspire to help their mentee reach his or her God-given potential by loving them unconditionally, giving advice and offering support. Currently, the YDC staff mentor the youth. We hope to expand our pool of dedicated Christian mentors who have the youth's best interests at heart.
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