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Trenton, NJ -- Beyond Expectations and Anchor House had a great time at our Holiday Drive & Design wrapping gifts for Angel's Wings, an emergency shelter care program for children newborn to 12 years old. We also spent the day decorating the Anchorage residence, a transitional home for older youth ages 18-21, where a few of the guys showcased their culinary skills in the kitchen!
We were joined by Jersey Cares who shared information about the organization and potential leadership opportunities. We're working with the agency to track hours for our own volunteer and community service projects.
Our extreme gratitude to all the dedicated volunteers who braved the snow to make this such a memorable day. Special thanks to Kim McNear, Anchor House Executive Director and Mereides Delgado, Director of Aging Out Youth Services for making it all possible.
We couldn't think of a better way to wrap up the year than helping to support another organization dedicated to serving youth and families in need.
Take a look back at other videos this year!
A glance behind the scenes...
Ewing, NJ -- Beyond Expectations has touched the lives of more than 4,000 families across the tri-state region and we want to better understand as well as document our impact. Through a formal assessment, quantitative and qualitative research will be conducted with students and parents who have participated in our programs.
Under the direction of Dr. He Len Chung, who will lead the design and implementation, a series of research questions were developed to focus on understanding the impact of participation on social, emotional, and psychological well being.
Dr. Chung has over 10 years of experience conducting research with vulnerable youth and families, including those involved with the foster care and juvenile justice systems, and will be responsible for obtaining consent, as well as conducting the research surveys and interviews.
The research proposal has been approved by The College of New Jersey's Institutional Review Board to ensure that the process is ethically and scientifically sound, and adheres to protocols vetted by the National Institutes of Health and other related projects.
A number of students and parents have already participated in the assessment which will continue into 2014.
Ewing, NJ -- November is National Homeless Youth Awareness Month. It's an ideal opportunity for students from Beyond Expectations to work directly with students at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) to plan our 2014 film screening which will focus on the area of youth homelessness.
Students spent an entire day on the lovely Ewing campus which included an exciting, totally fun interactive scavenger hunt and a chance to participate on the crew of a simulated behind-the-scenes television segment with a representative from TCNJ Lions TV.
The afternoon was spent working collaboratively on three planning teams for the upcoming screening: Advocacy, Promotions, and Merchandising which followed with presentations of their findings to the group. The day wrapped by viewing a series of film and television projects produced by Beyond Expectations students discussing the selection process for the upcoming screening.
The Community Engaged Learning Day was organized through our campus-community partnership with the TCNJ Bonner Center, under the guise of the Center's Director, Paula Figueroa-Vega. The Bonner Center prepares college students to be engaged citizens who will help solve problems in their own communities and to work with community partners to change their respective neighborhoods.
Special thanks to the phenomenal team of Bonner Scholars (John Brown, Kerry Farnum, Julia Livesey, and Edward Bannister-Holmes) who helped organize logistics for the exciting day.