Exposure to a variety of activities, locations, and cultures is instrumental in shaping the lives of well rounded youths. The programs available below are made possible in large part due to the generosity of various agencies and grant providers.
Strategic goals
- Remove barriers and provide tools to assist our residents in becoming self sufficient
- Provide programs for youth that will motivate learning, raise self esteem and enable them to become productive members of the community
Summer Camp - Camp Ernst
The Housing Authority of Covington (HAC) developed a seven week summer camp for children between the ages of 6-13 who reside in public housing. This camp is an intensive therapeutic group experience giving urban children the chance to work closely
with educational specialists, mentors, community leaders and peers in a safe, supportive environment.
Summer Camp 2011 is designed specifically to meet both the educational and recreational needs of each youth. HAC is partnering with the Diocese of Covington to provide two components:
- Two certified teachers, roughly one hour a day, 4 days a week (9:30-10:30 am, Monday – Thursday)
- 5 paid high school/college students to provide one-on-one mentoring roughly 8 hours a day, 4 days a week (9:30 am – 4:30 pm, Monday – Thursday)
We are pleased to be able to introduce an educational component to the summer camp program. Statistics show that when students are not consistently stimulated academically in the summertime, their retention of grade level skills decreases dramatically. Consequently, they tend to return to school needing longer review times, which in turn, delays faster grade level progress.
HAC utilizes two certified teachers to perform academic pre-testing among camp participants in order to collect base line data. With this data, certified teachers are able to customize individualized urriculums for each youth. Then, teachers, mentors and youth will spend 1 hour, four days implementing the individualized curriculum. Following the seven weeks of intense educational support, the teachers will perform a post-test to determine each youth’s academic progress.
After working on their daily educational goals, all youth will be able to participate in an array of recreational activities with other campers and their mentors. The recreational component is divided into three categories.
They are:
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At the lake: |
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| 100 foot waterslide |
Canoes |
Water Trampoline/Blob |
| Aquacycles |
Kayaks |
Banana Boat |
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At the ropes course: |
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| Zipline |
Giant Swing |
Low Ropes Challenge Course |
| Airwalk |
Climbing Wall |
Burma Bridge |
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In the Valley: |
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| Swimming |
Fishing |
Horseback Riding |
| Archery |
Outdoor Skills |
Petting Zoo |
| Air Riflery |
Crafts |
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| Sports and Games |
Nature |
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During the recreational component, exposer to many core social skills is possible through the behavior modeling of skilled camp counselors and mentors. Emphasis will be placed on practicing many of the YMCA's core values, which includes: caring, honesty, respect, responsibility, conflict resolution, friend-making, confidence-building, trying new things, creativity, independence, teamwork, and much more!
Summer Camp 2011 offers breakfast, lunch, transportation, educational enrichment, outdoor recreation, and one-on-one mentors.
Teen Summer Work Program
The Teen Summer Work Program was initiated in 2009 for teen residents of public housing from 16-20 years of age to gain summer employment. The program was launched initially with over 40 teens participating in employment/life skill training.
The Teen Summer Work Program offers each teen resident the following:
• Paid employment
• Social/Skill development
• Employment skill training
• Work experience
• Life skills training
Each teen resident works 20 hours per week for 6 weeks and each comes away with over 120 hours of employment experience.
There are many costs associated with running the Teen Summer Work Program including teen wages, staffing costs, and transportation. A monetary bonus is also awarded to each teen resident who completes the program successfully.
The vision of the Teen Summer Work Program is to ultimately allow each teen resident of public housing an opportunity to gain relevant community work experience. We believe this is the beginning of their road to self sufficiency.
After School Program
The After School Program for elementary and middle school children living in public housing started in 2005 out of the need for safe, supervised environments for children coming home after school to unsupervised households. At first, the program was based on-site at public housing facilities. However, more recently, the program has moved off- site to The Marge Schott Boys & Girls Club, in Covington, KY.
The After School Program operates five days a week, encompassing eight different agencies that support children's programming. Our lead partner is The Marge Schott Boys & Girls Club, which provides the facility, dinner, homework help, games, activities and sports. The After School Program runs 3.30 p.m. – 8.00 p.m. five days per week.
The After School Program has demonstrated its success in many ways, including:
- Increased enrollment – 45-65 children daily
- Program expansion, including monthly homework assistance, tutoring, computer usage, fitness classes, swimming and karate
- Growth in community outreach to other child-centered organizations, including Kicks for Kids and the Girl Scouts
- More frequent opportunities for field trips such as Reds’ games, Great Outdoor Adventures, and over 15 other off-site fieldtrips
Many costs in running the After School Program have increased over the last few years, particularly those relating to fuel, staffing, and maintenance on three aging 15-passenger vans.
Northern Kentucky-Youth Advisory Council
The Housing Authority of Covington Resident Services Department is establishing a Youth Advisory Council for youth ages 13-17. We recognize it is vital to have youth participation in what is going on with public housing.
The purpose of the Northern Kentucky – Youth Advisory Council (NKY – YAC) is to create a council of select public housing residents to be the voice of their generation. The goal is to broaden the scope of youth leadership in Covington, Kentucky through volunteerism, service and initiatives that are directed towards allowing youth input into policy issues affecting them, identifying youth issues, and participating in the development of positive solutions.
The council will also actively involve youth to promote public awareness of the strengths and abilities of youth, provide a safe atmosphere for youth, and actively involve youth in planning, developing and implementing social, cultural and recreational activities.
Qualified candidates must be able to go through an interview and meet the following criteria:
- 13-17 years of age
- Public Housing Resident
- A-B-C Grade Average (Show Report Card)
- Good School Attendance
- Attend extracurricular activities
- Demonstrates Leaderships skills and ability
- Must be able to provide 2 letters of recommendation at interview
For more information, please contact Jon Adkins at 859-292-3263, ext. 104 or jadkins@covingtonky.gov.
Northern Kentucky Knights Basketball
The Housing Authority of Covington‘s Resident Services Department has launched the NKY- Knights basketball team in the Spring of 2011. This team consists of 10-15 youth residents ages 13-15. The team has scheduled practices three days a week at the local Boys and Girls club with a game each Monday evening. Each player is provided with a full uniform and shoes.
We have integrated the NKY-Knights basketball team into other surrounding leagues in the area to play against their peers. We believe by providing positive and structured activities for youth will build character and detract youth from unconstructive activities.
A child's feeling of self-worth and learning of social behaviors can be helped greatly through extracurricular sports such as basketball. Meeting new friends, working together as a team and developing a healthy competitiveness are important strides in social and emotional growth that all children should experience. As a member of this team, it encourages these roles as it allows the player to experience confidence as he/she masters each skill; they will also grows emotionally as they learns to handle the disappointment of losing a game.
For more information, please contact Jon Adkins at 859-292-3263, ext 104 or jadkins@covingtonky.gov.