This month, we held our first ever Vision Board Party and Luncheon with our partners at Art + Practice The luncheon celebrate First Place youth who have received the A + P scholarship and was an opportunity for all youth to learn about the next application cycle opening in April. Everyone in community enjoyed fun activities, a photo booth, a DJ and a delicious Mediterranean meal!  

For the vision board activity, staff prepared magazines and stickers for youth to cut out and paste images of the goals they have for this year. Some youth included saving money, traveling, buying a car, and graduating school in their vision boards. One youth said they enjoyed using pictures to express their goals because sometimes it is hard to come up with words.  

Participants said they enjoyed creating sources of inspiration for themselves – and their future selves. In one activity, attendees decorated and wrote about their dreams and motivational messages on small pieces of paper to fill up a “dream jar.” They wrote a letter to their “future selves” about what they hope to accomplish this year and words of advice to keep reaching for their goals. Then they placed the notes in envelopes that will be mailed to them at the end of the year. 

The $100,000 A + P Scholarship fund has helped many foster youth at First Place overcome barriers to their career or educational goals.  

“I’m thankful for the A + P scholarship because I was able to purchase a cosmetology kit to start my cosmetology program,” said one youth. Another youth said the A + P scholarship helped cover the transportation costs to and from school.  

A huge thank you to all of YES Team, LA staff, and all of our First Place youth who attended and helped make this event successful! It was amazing to see so many individuals engaged with one another and participate in arts and crafts. We can’t wait until the next time!  

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