| The Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks youth mentorship program – Help Empower Youth to Advocate and Lead, or H.E.A.L. – received a statewide award from the Maryland Recreation and Parks Association (MRPA) that recognizes the program’s innovative delivery strategy.
The Raising Up Award was presented to the department “for partnering or collaborating with another city, county, state or national agency to create a unique and creative recreation program for the enhancement of the community.”
The H.E.A.L. youth mentorship program equips youth facing academic, social, or emotional challenges with skills to advocate for themselves. The Raising Up Award recognizes the impact of the program on young people and the creative strategy of delivering the program to interested fifth graders with parental permission during a lunch period at Lansdowne Elementary School, a Baltimore County Public School.
“The Department of Recreation and Parks is offering residents an expansive variety of high-quality opportunities including open green space, athletic programing, and personal development programs like H.E.A.L. youth mentorship,” said Department of Recreation and Parks Director Bob Smith. “This program is another demonstration of the strong investment we are making in the future of young residents in Baltimore County.”
H.E.A.L. elements have also been recognized as models for other communities by the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA). The program was developed with an Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention grant and launched earlier this year. The launch was possible with support from partnerships including NRPA and the National Mentoring Resource Center, Mentor MD|DC.
Lansdowne Elementary School is a community school receiving Title I support, and students in the program qualify for the H.E.A.L. program because of academic, social, or emotional challenges they face.
The H.E.A.L. program is available to young people ages 9 through 14 at several Recreation Activity Centers across Baltimore County. It is typically offered as an eight-week program that covers leadership fundamentals, communication skills, building resilience, setting goals, cultivating empathy, ethical decision-making and responsibility, the growth mindset, and practical applications. Past program field trips have included Baltimore County recreation sites and the state house in Annapolis.
Young people interested in mentorship and adults interested in mentoring may sign up on the CivicRec online portal.
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