“Every…project is a seed, a seed of faith…let’s nurture [it] and watch [it] grow”
Fresh Moves (formerly The Nehemiah Project) partners with DJ Doc, the Fresh Camp, and Shaker Heights High School Student Group on Race Relations (SGORR) to deliver a unique enrichment experience. Combining dance, music, and Social & Emotional Learning, youth learn about diversity and bullying prevention through movement and dialogue. Students also learn about healthy eating, entrepreneurship (i.e., making t-shirts), music production, and community gardening.
-Doc Harrill “DJ Doc” (Founder of the Refresh Collective)
“Theater is the stuff of magic.”
Sankofa is our signature MYCOM/Starting Point Out-of-School Time (OST) program in partnership with the Karamu House. In the Twi language of Ghana, Sankofa means “Go back and get it.” At Tender Heart Crusades, Sankofa combines Science (DNA workshops), Technology (Virtual Learning), Engineering (Sewing and the Djembe Drum), Arts (Music, Theater, and Dance), Mathematics (Algebra), and reading to teach youth about identity, history, and Arts & Culture from the African American experience.
-Sis. Yvetta Eley (Sankofa Instructor)
“It’s deeper than a movement: It represents liberation [and] fighting applications…”
Capoeira (pronounced kaa·puh·weh·ruh) combines elements of dance, acrobatics, and music. With its constant side-to-side and front to back movement, this Afro-Brazilian martial art builds strength, endurance, flexibility, and agility, and teaches youth discipline. Students also learn Portuguese and the rhythmic sounds of the berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque, agogô, and reco-reco.
-Demetri Tye (Capoeira Student)
“[You] are in control of everything you do…”
+Positive Results is a six-week afterschool health and fitness program for at-risk LGBT+ youth (ages 18-24) that builds active habits while promoting healthy lifestyles. In partnership with the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland, C-Town Fitness, Recovery Resources, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County, and Case Western Reserve University, students meet five days a week to workout, learn, and engage with peers on issues relating to the LGBT+ community. Students receive PREP (Truvada) medication, courses in nutrition and STD prevention, HIV testing, workshops in substance abuse and suicide prevention, and endurance training. Students also compete in local and state marathons, duathlons, and triathlon events.
-Alex Adrian Sanchez (Positive Results Coach)
“It’s about serving the soul and putting out a message of love and truth…”
Soul Food combines music and food service to connect with those less fortunate. This community service program partners with the Salvation Army, the Food Bank, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to deliver essential volunteer opportunities.
-Ameris Reid (Gospel Recording Artist)
“Easy peasy!”
Tender Heart Crusades offers two online programs to keep students growing and learning from the safety of their homes. Making it Through (hosted by Stir Studio Kitchen) shows students how to prepare simple dishes on a budget, just as our ancestors did during tough times. Students also learn about resiliency in the kitchen, from history, and recipes from the Great Depression. ZENworks Yoga provides online yoga and mindfulness programs for students. Through yoga, students learn how to withdraw the mind and the senses from the myriad distractions of the world to obliterate the boundaries of identity and form we create for ourselves.
-Charlie Denk (Founder of Stir Studio Kitchen)