Closely collaborating with the Bravehearts program, in partnership with Children’s Village, Metro Resilience, Opportunity, Safety, Education, Strengths (ROSES) program pairs advocates with young girls in Juvenile Justice System to help them build up goals and necessary skills.
The Difference Between Surviving and Thriving
What is the difference between surviving and thriving? Many people would argue that you have to look at the outcomes in an individual’s life to see whether they are surviving or thriving. They look at the preset measures of a person’s status such as work, wealth, possessions, and material things. What if surviving and thriving are the same thing, however? Maybe the only difference between surviving or thriving is perspective. Famed Rapper DMX puts it this way: “See, to live is to suffer but to survive that’s to find meaning in the suffering.” Everyone deals with hardships but maybe surviving is a human condition whether it be financially surviving, emotionally surviving, spiritually surviving, or physically surviving. Therefore, how do we measure the thin line between surviving and thriving? Does the essence of survival in one area of someone’s life mean that someone is thriving in the other areas of their life? I don’t have the answers but I do know one thing: Without the dark, we cannot appreciate the light. Without the negativity, we could not embrace the positivity. Without the rain, we could not enjoy the warm rays of the sun. There is no good without the bad, so maybe there is no thriving without surviving. This doesn't mean we don’t have to aim for better for our lives whatever that means to you. This just means that the better is within us and just needs to be dusted off so we can let it shine brighter than we could ever imagine!
The Bravehearts, in working partnership with Children's Village, received a contract with the Westchester Family Courts Girl’s Justice Initiative in partnership with Department of Criminal Justice Services, NYU and the White Plains Youth Bureau to provide gender specific and trauma informed mentorship to young girls touched by the juvenile justice system through an established program called ROSES (Resilience, Opportunity, Safety, Education, Strengths). This program pairs advocates with these young ladies to assist them in developing their goals, support in the development of skills, and act as a mentor to walk with them through the juvenile justice system with the outcome of preventing recidivism. There is a two week intensive training provided through New York University for the mentors, as well as weekly group and individual supervision. ROSEbuds hopes to positively impact the lives of these young ladies and therefore decrease the amount of young women involved in the juvenile justice system. Remember, a rose can grow from a crack in the concrete!