August 6, 2024 • 12 mins
We spoke with Olivia Dudley, Director of Program Operations, and Rasheeda Wright, Juvenile Justice Team Leader for Waterbury Youth Services, about their 27th Annual Back to School Rally on Thursday, August 22nd as well as their mission to guide youth to discover their unique talents and potential for success --- one life at a time.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Allison de Merce. Thank you for listening to Community Access.
My guest today from the Waterbury Youth Services Olivia Dudley.
She's director of Program Operations and Rashida Wright Juvenile Justice
team leader. And Olivia's here also as the chair of
our back to school rally that we're going to talk
more about.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome ladies, Thank you, thank you. So we have.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Something fantastic coming up on August twenty second. It's a
Thursday at Fulton Park and Waterbury. Tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yes, So it is a community event that Waterbeer Youth
Services cheers for the last twenty seven years where we
get youth excited for the first day of school, and
we do that by providing resources from several different organizations
from in and around the city, as well as just
making sure that they have after school programming and mentoring
(00:52):
options and knowing, you know, what school will intel for
this year.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So if I arrive at noon that day, take me
through the next two hours. If I'm a child or
a parent, what's going to happen?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah, So they start off at the entrance of the park.
They start with their registration. They'll get a passport book,
some tickets. We have Frankies that will be there giving
out free hot dogs. So they go throughout the path
in the park, they stop at each vendor table. Each
vendor table will have not only resources, but a couple
different supplies for the youth as they're going back to school,
(01:26):
so that might look like pencils or pens. And as
they enter through the park, once they reach the pavilion
the playground area, that's where they'll receive their free book bag,
which is very exciting for a lot of our youth.
There will be performers there as well, doing some dances.
We have a mayoral that we're doing for art, so
(01:47):
a lot of different activities for the youth to participate in.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And I just wanted to mention as she said, performances
will have speeches from the Mayor of Orderberry as well
as the Deputy super Attendant, so they'll hear from them
and also give them some motivation for school.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
What is the theme this year?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
This year is about intentional art, So as they go
through the park, they'll see art that's been created by
youth from in and around the city from one of
our programs there at Waterbury Youth Services as well as
on that day as Rashida mentioned, they'll be putting together
a mural that'll be displayed at Warter Beer Youth Services.
So it's really about intentional art and creativity this year.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
What are the ages of the children participating?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Would you say, I would say five years old near
kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade, so seventeen
eighteen years old.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
What would you say to the parents? What should they expect?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So definitely expect to get those basic necessities, because we
have youth who leave there with a book bag full
of supply, so they'll have the notebooks, pens, rulers, crans,
whatever they really need with those basic necessities, as well
as the host of different nonprofits in the area that
(02:56):
they'll be able to match their youth with for resources
while they're in school, and that can include tutoring, I
said mention. I mentioned mentoring earlier, you know, just really
being connected to the community and what it can provide.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
How great is the need for this for students in
Water very in particular.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
And I would say it's super essential. Families receive a
lot of services that they would not know about. You know,
sometimes they're very familiar with their own neighborhoods. They don't
venture out to the other parts of the city the town.
So coming together in this neutral location, they're able to
get those resources like after school program, pro social you know,
(03:35):
sports that the youth get to play. And we also
know that a lot of families can't afford backpacks or
school supply. So this is you see bright smiles on
their faces when they come out and they're able to
get these items for free.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That's what I was gonna say. Between the parents, the children,
and then the teachers. Absolutely, when the kids show up
with the supplies that are necessary, it's a win win foreveryday.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yes, So what would you say to a parent maybe
who has pride.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's like, I just don't want to go there
and get something for nothing.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I mean I would say I remember going here when
I was a youth, you know, to the rally. So
it's not about getting things for free. It's about just
being open to help and open to resources and being
a part of the community. What I really love about
this event is you get to see forty different vendors,
(04:29):
forty different nonprofits come together and show that we are
all supporting youth and we all want them to be
successful for the year. So pride aside, you're there to
have a good time to get the resources. And again
I remember going and I always had a great time.
And you know, there's no definitely no shame in coming
(04:49):
to the back to school rally.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
We just did a show on somebody who was homeless
and we were saying how poverty affects every walk of life.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It doesn't matter how educated you.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Are, and absolutely where you are, who you are, it
just affects everyone. So don't feel funny and not go
because you're gonna bless your child, You're gonna bless yourself.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It's just gonna be a win win for everyone, right,
And it's fun.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
It's definitely fun the performances, the art and just learning
about what's going on in the city.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So what are some of the things Waterburer Youth Services
does that people don't know about.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
How does it help everyone?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Well, we have a lot of different programs, about sixteen
different programs, three categories. We have our Juvenile Justice Team
that really works with diverting youth from the court, helping
them stay in school and then providing an alternative setting
for suspension. We have our Positive Youth Development Team, that's
pro social. So we have summer camp. We have our
(05:47):
after school program where those youth get a stipend. Those
are high schoolers, so they get a stipend to work.
We have mentoring, We have our LGBTQ plus support group,
and then we have clinical. We have a homeless Youth
Resource Center. We have counseling, supervised visitation. If I go on,
we'll be here all day.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Okay, you can go to the website Waterbero Youth Services
dot org. Absolutely yes for more information and everyone take
advantage of those services.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
All of our services are free to families and open
to anybody. And excuse me, all of our services are
free to families and open to anybody from Waterbury or
the surrounding towns.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Any success stories you'd like to share about kids who've
used the services.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I would say yes. I remember a youth that was
referred to us. The youth was about nine years old
only child parents were a little bit older. The youth
didn't have much opportunities to hang around youth their age,
and one day there was a behavior at home. The
police were involved, which was very tragic and life changing
(06:57):
for that youth to have experienced that and just being
able to come to our program, being peered with a mentor,
being able to go to summer camp in the after
school program. The parents were so thankful that that youth
was able to be surrounded by youth but also be
peered with a mentor that did pro social things with
him that they couldn't do because they were so busy working. So,
(07:21):
you know, just looking at all the services we do offer,
I would say, take advantage of them all, take advantage
of them all.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And he turned out to be happy and healthy.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Happy and healthy onto the next grade and just doing
great things successful.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
What is life like for children in the greater water
Very area?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I think.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
If I was to talk about our youth, we saw
last year that a mental health survey did come out
for the Waterbury community and a lot of our youth
were struggling with depression and just not really feeling okay.
So I think they are experiencing from that survey some
of what the adults are experiencing and really just trying
(08:11):
to overcome that as a youth and without maybe the
resources or the knowledge to do so. But I also
know that our youth are very resilient in Waterbury, very
creative and just ambitious. So I'm excited to see, you know,
(08:32):
the next few years on who they become and how
they change the world.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
If I was so, why the need for the back
to school rally?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So I would say each year, and I've been doing
it for ten years, we see about fifteen hundred to
two thousand people at the rally, whether it's at Library Park,
full in park. So that right there lets us know
we need to keep doing this, that we need to
keep filling the gaps, that we need to keep providing
the services. And we also know that our rally starts
(09:00):
at twelve pm, but people are lined up as early
as nine am ten am out there, so there's a
need and we see that. So that's really, you know,
why we do the rally.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
What can the public do to help with Waterbury Youth Services?
Speaker 4 (09:17):
I would say if anyone is interested in donating school supplies,
donating backpacks, We're always open to that because we know
families are always in need of that.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And again they can go to the website at Waterbeuriry
Youth Services dot org and what's the phone.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Number two zero three five seven three zero two six four.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
We talked a little bit about the programs that you
offer at Waterbury Youth Services.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Tell me some more.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, So we're also the child Advocacy center for the region.
So we do medical exams and forensic interviews for youth
who have been sexually abused, physically abused, and or neglected.
So we do that and have been doing that for
over a decade now. So in our office you can
(10:00):
come and tour. We have the medical exam room. We
also have a forensic room where it's a double sided
mirror so that the youth can be interviewed and whoever
needs to be a part of that interview is on
the other side and able to ask those questions. And
we really do that so that the youth does not
have to tell the story more than one time, and
that they come into a family friendly environment, a positive
(10:23):
youth setting. They're not in the emergency of rooms, they're
not at the police station, but they're doing it. They're
at our agency and getting all of the services done,
and we make sure that you know if they need
any type of assistance after that, whether it's mental health
support or counseling or after school programming, that we're able
(10:44):
to do that with our Child Advocacy Center. And another
really fun program we do, which is not a youth program,
it's actually an adult program or young adult program, is
for women who speaks Spanish. Their first language is Spanish.
We offer them a class where they're able to learn
how to open and run their own home daycare, so
they are able to understand the licensing around daycare, They're
(11:06):
able to learn what it is to run a business,
and is taught completely in Spanish. It's one of our
only adult programs there at the agency. So those are
two of the other programs that we do outside of
our basic teams, which Rashida explained.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I'm speaking with Olivia Dudley, director of Program Operations at
the Waterbaro Youth Services and share of our twenty seventh
annual Back to School Rally also Rashida Right, Juvenile Justice
Team leader. Their twenty seventh annual Back to School Rally
is at Fulton Park Thursday, August twenty second, from twelve
to two. Rain or Shine absolutely get in line for that.
(11:45):
The kids will get their backpacks and everything they need
for the school year from K through twelve. Thank you
so much for the both of you for serving our children, parents,
our community and all of the beautiful work that you do.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
We appreciate you. Thank you for having us, Thank you
I'm Allison de Merce. Thank you for listening to Community Access.
My guest today from the Waterbury Youth Services Olivia Dudley.
She's director of Program Operations and Rashida Wright Juvenile Justice
team leader. And Olivia's here also as the chair of
our back to school rally that we're going to talk
more about.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome ladies, Thank you, thank you. So we have.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Something fantastic coming up on August twenty second. It's a
Thursday at Fulton Park and Waterbury. Tell us about it.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yes, So it is a community event that Waterbeer Youth
Services cheers for the last twenty seven years where we
get youth excited for the first day of school, and
we do that by providing resources from several different organizations
from in and around the city, as well as just
making sure that they have after school programming and mentoring
(00:52):
options and knowing, you know, what school will intel for
this year.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
So if I arrive at noon that day, take me
through the next two hours. If I'm a child or
a parent, what's going to happen?
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Yeah, So they start off at the entrance of the park.
They start with their registration. They'll get a passport book,
some tickets. We have Frankies that will be there giving
out free hot dogs. So they go throughout the path
in the park, they stop at each vendor table. Each
vendor table will have not only resources, but a couple
different supplies for the youth as they're going back to school,
(01:26):
so that might look like pencils or pens. And as
they enter through the park, once they reach the pavilion
the playground area, that's where they'll receive their free book bag,
which is very exciting for a lot of our youth.
There will be performers there as well, doing some dances.
We have a mayoral that we're doing for art, so
(01:47):
a lot of different activities for the youth to participate in.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And I just wanted to mention as she said, performances
will have speeches from the Mayor of Orderberry as well
as the Deputy super Attendant, so they'll hear from them
and also give them some motivation for school.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
What is the theme this year?
Speaker 3 (02:03):
This year is about intentional art, So as they go
through the park, they'll see art that's been created by
youth from in and around the city from one of
our programs there at Waterbury Youth Services as well as
on that day as Rashida mentioned, they'll be putting together
a mural that'll be displayed at Warter Beer Youth Services.
So it's really about intentional art and creativity this year.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
What are the ages of the children participating?
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Would you say, I would say five years old near
kindergarten all the way up to twelfth grade, so seventeen
eighteen years old.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
What would you say to the parents? What should they expect?
Speaker 3 (02:36):
So definitely expect to get those basic necessities, because we
have youth who leave there with a book bag full
of supply, so they'll have the notebooks, pens, rulers, crans,
whatever they really need with those basic necessities, as well
as the host of different nonprofits in the area that
(02:56):
they'll be able to match their youth with for resources
while they're in school, and that can include tutoring, I
said mention. I mentioned mentoring earlier, you know, just really
being connected to the community and what it can provide.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
How great is the need for this for students in
Water very in particular.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
And I would say it's super essential. Families receive a
lot of services that they would not know about. You know,
sometimes they're very familiar with their own neighborhoods. They don't
venture out to the other parts of the city the town.
So coming together in this neutral location, they're able to
get those resources like after school program, pro social you know,
(03:35):
sports that the youth get to play. And we also
know that a lot of families can't afford backpacks or
school supply. So this is you see bright smiles on
their faces when they come out and they're able to
get these items for free.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
That's what I was gonna say. Between the parents, the children,
and then the teachers. Absolutely, when the kids show up
with the supplies that are necessary, it's a win win foreveryday.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Yes, So what would you say to a parent maybe
who has pride.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
And it's like, I just don't want to go there
and get something for nothing.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
I mean I would say I remember going here when
I was a youth, you know, to the rally. So
it's not about getting things for free. It's about just
being open to help and open to resources and being
a part of the community. What I really love about
this event is you get to see forty different vendors,
(04:29):
forty different nonprofits come together and show that we are
all supporting youth and we all want them to be
successful for the year. So pride aside, you're there to
have a good time to get the resources. And again
I remember going and I always had a great time.
And you know, there's no definitely no shame in coming
(04:49):
to the back to school rally.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
We just did a show on somebody who was homeless
and we were saying how poverty affects every walk of life.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It doesn't matter how educated you.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Are, and absolutely where you are, who you are, it
just affects everyone. So don't feel funny and not go
because you're gonna bless your child, You're gonna bless yourself.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
It's just gonna be a win win for everyone, right,
And it's fun.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
It's definitely fun the performances, the art and just learning
about what's going on in the city.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So what are some of the things Waterburer Youth Services
does that people don't know about.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
How does it help everyone?
Speaker 4 (05:25):
Well, we have a lot of different programs, about sixteen
different programs, three categories. We have our Juvenile Justice Team
that really works with diverting youth from the court, helping
them stay in school and then providing an alternative setting
for suspension. We have our Positive Youth Development Team, that's
pro social. So we have summer camp. We have our
(05:47):
after school program where those youth get a stipend. Those
are high schoolers, so they get a stipend to work.
We have mentoring, We have our LGBTQ plus support group,
and then we have clinical. We have a homeless Youth
Resource Center. We have counseling, supervised visitation. If I go on,
we'll be here all day.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Okay, you can go to the website Waterbero Youth Services
dot org. Absolutely yes for more information and everyone take
advantage of those services.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
All of our services are free to families and open
to anybody. And excuse me, all of our services are
free to families and open to anybody from Waterbury or
the surrounding towns.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Any success stories you'd like to share about kids who've
used the services.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
I would say yes. I remember a youth that was
referred to us. The youth was about nine years old
only child parents were a little bit older. The youth
didn't have much opportunities to hang around youth their age,
and one day there was a behavior at home. The
police were involved, which was very tragic and life changing
(06:57):
for that youth to have experienced that and just being
able to come to our program, being peered with a mentor,
being able to go to summer camp in the after
school program. The parents were so thankful that that youth
was able to be surrounded by youth but also be
peered with a mentor that did pro social things with
him that they couldn't do because they were so busy working. So,
(07:21):
you know, just looking at all the services we do offer,
I would say, take advantage of them all, take advantage
of them all.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And he turned out to be happy and healthy.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Happy and healthy onto the next grade and just doing
great things successful.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
What is life like for children in the greater water
Very area?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
I think.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
If I was to talk about our youth, we saw
last year that a mental health survey did come out
for the Waterbury community and a lot of our youth
were struggling with depression and just not really feeling okay.
So I think they are experiencing from that survey some
of what the adults are experiencing and really just trying
(08:11):
to overcome that as a youth and without maybe the
resources or the knowledge to do so. But I also
know that our youth are very resilient in Waterbury, very
creative and just ambitious. So I'm excited to see, you know,
(08:32):
the next few years on who they become and how
they change the world.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
If I was so, why the need for the back
to school rally?
Speaker 3 (08:40):
So I would say each year, and I've been doing
it for ten years, we see about fifteen hundred to
two thousand people at the rally, whether it's at Library Park,
full in park. So that right there lets us know
we need to keep doing this, that we need to
keep filling the gaps, that we need to keep providing
the services. And we also know that our rally starts
(09:00):
at twelve pm, but people are lined up as early
as nine am ten am out there, so there's a
need and we see that. So that's really, you know,
why we do the rally.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
What can the public do to help with Waterbury Youth Services?
Speaker 4 (09:17):
I would say if anyone is interested in donating school supplies,
donating backpacks, We're always open to that because we know
families are always in need of that.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And again they can go to the website at Waterbeuriry
Youth Services dot org and what's the phone.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Number two zero three five seven three zero two six four.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
We talked a little bit about the programs that you
offer at Waterbury Youth Services.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
Tell me some more.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
Yeah, So we're also the child Advocacy center for the region.
So we do medical exams and forensic interviews for youth
who have been sexually abused, physically abused, and or neglected.
So we do that and have been doing that for
over a decade now. So in our office you can
(10:00):
come and tour. We have the medical exam room. We
also have a forensic room where it's a double sided
mirror so that the youth can be interviewed and whoever
needs to be a part of that interview is on
the other side and able to ask those questions. And
we really do that so that the youth does not
have to tell the story more than one time, and
that they come into a family friendly environment, a positive
(10:23):
youth setting. They're not in the emergency of rooms, they're
not at the police station, but they're doing it. They're
at our agency and getting all of the services done,
and we make sure that you know if they need
any type of assistance after that, whether it's mental health
support or counseling or after school programming, that we're able
(10:44):
to do that with our Child Advocacy Center. And another
really fun program we do, which is not a youth program,
it's actually an adult program or young adult program, is
for women who speaks Spanish. Their first language is Spanish.
We offer them a class where they're able to learn
how to open and run their own home daycare, so
they are able to understand the licensing around daycare, They're
(11:06):
able to learn what it is to run a business,
and is taught completely in Spanish. It's one of our
only adult programs there at the agency. So those are
two of the other programs that we do outside of
our basic teams, which Rashida explained.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
I'm speaking with Olivia Dudley, director of Program Operations at
the Waterbaro Youth Services and share of our twenty seventh
annual Back to School Rally also Rashida Right, Juvenile Justice
Team leader. Their twenty seventh annual Back to School Rally
is at Fulton Park Thursday, August twenty second, from twelve
to two. Rain or Shine absolutely get in line for that.
(11:45):
The kids will get their backpacks and everything they need
for the school year from K through twelve. Thank you
so much for the both of you for serving our children, parents,
our community and all of the beautiful work that you do.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
We appreciate you. Thank you for having us, Thank you
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