Neighborhood Voice Project!!

The past few weeks we have been working on a service project with the youth in Allentown to create a campaign of active youth voice throughout the neighborhood. It is important for any community that the youth and families feel involved and empowered to participate and speak up about things that matter to them. We had a workshop and asked the youth what positive messages they wanted to share with their community. Then we got to work! Each child was able to put their message along with their own original artwork onto a poster.

The kids had some really great ideas and were pretty excited to share them with the community. It was great to see how creative the youth wanted to get with their designs. We got so many wonderful posters that really share the feelings we have here at ALEC!

This week we threw a party for the final day of our project. All families of the participants were invited as well as any members of the community. We had a lot of activities like decorating t-shirts we had designed by Common Wealth Press and other fun crafts and games to continue the fun of the project.

Once all the young artists arrived we set out to pass hang up the posters in the businesses along Warrington Ave. We brought lots of chalk so the kids and families could decorate the whole street with their positivity and artwork.

Overall the day went really great. The businesses were so welcoming and the kids loved being able to bring something they created themselves and hang it up in the window. Walking down the street you can see that the youth really put their hearts into their work and it does brighten things up.

We want to thank all those who participated and helped to make this project possible:

Neighborhood Allies (Grant Funding)

Sweet Peaches (Catering)

CommonWealth Press (T-Shirts)

And all businesses who helped us share our art in their window:

A Giving Heart

Daily Mart

Black Forge Coffee House

Amsler's Pharmacy 

Spool

412 Kidz

Work Hard

Breakfast at Shelly's

Paisano's Pizzeria

Leon's Carribean

Boost Mobile

Metro PCS

We love working with Allentown where everyone is so willing to help and get involved in the community. The youth here are really inspiring and I know the positivity can only continue to grow!

-Sarah