• 5 Swallowfield Road, Kingston 5
  • 876.926.7163
  • info@youthreachingyouth.org
  • 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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About Us

Welcome to Youth Reaching Youth a non-governmental organization with tax-free status! Our programme is uniquely designed to address the myriad of issues faced by young people throughout their journey from the teenage years into young adulthood. We believe that our youth should be viewed in-terms of their potential capacities rather than their perceived deficiencies. Therefore, the educational aspect of youth plays an important role in arming them with the knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices that will enable them to make healthy choices in accordance with the word of God. It is against this background that Youth Reaching Youth is also registered with the Ministry of Education and is a member of the Council For Voluntary Social Services/United Way. Our vision is “To transform communities and nation through empowered, Christ-centered youth leaders.” The main goals of the programme are:
  • To develop a team of dynamic Christian Youth Leaders educated in CSEC and CAPE level subjects, trained in evangelism strategies peer-to-peer counselling and prevention strategies to disseminate information through the creative arts to the targeted populations in schools, correctional facilities for youth, mercy institutions, Churches and other community organizations.
  • To promote the gospel of Jesus Christ in a relevant, cultural manner among the youth population between the ages of 6-21 years.
Youth Reaching Youth operates five days per week between the hours of 8:00am – 4:00pm
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How YRY came into existence?

Swallowfield Chapel, the parent organization of Youth Reaching Youth was particularly concerned about the youth and caregivers who reside within the community of Swallowfield. The community was plagued by crime and violence, drug use and trafficking, youths were wondering aimlessly lost; most of the homes were female-headed with parents who were busy seeking employment; youths were left unattended to their own demise. As such Swallowfield Chapel contracted the services of Hope Enterprize to conduct an assessment of the community and its needs.
The Environmental Foundation of Jamaica funded the Community Needs Assessment of four sample communities (Nannyville Gardens, Stadium Gardens, Mountain Terrace and Swallowfield proper) surrounding the church in June 2001. The survey revealed the following:
  • That among other things the communities were asking for interventions aimed at empowering their youths and related caregivers to live healthy productive lifestyles.
  • The caregivers needed training in various employability skills that would make them more attractive to the job market or empower them to be entrepreneurs.
  • The youth needed better role models, youth who understood their needs and youth who they could emulate.
As such, details of these findings helped to inform the programme design. Another input to the programme design has been the widely accepted and documented view that peer influence is a very significant contributor to the life choices of the young and especially the adolescent population. Hence, the programme has at its core the peer education and helping approach to maximize impact on the targeted and non-targetted population. Hence, Youth Reaching Youth began its operations on September 6, 2001. To date the programme is a member of the Council For Voluntary Social Services/United Way and is now registered with the Ministry of Education.

From Strength to Strength

Since April of 2002, the Youth Leaders have made presentations to the following places:

School

  • St. Andrew High school for Girls
  • St Hugh’s High School
  • Tivoli Gardens High
  • Denham Town High
  • Gaynstead High
  • Trench Town High
  • Papine High
  • Campion College
  • Covenant Christian Academy
  • Kingston Technical High
  • Jamaica College
  • Kingston College
  • Calabar High
  • Vauxhall High
  • Liberty Academy At The Priory
  • Cumberland High
  • Ascott High
  • Glenmuir High
  • Holy Trinity High
  • Central High
  • Pembroke Hall High
  • Clan Party Primary & Junior High
  • New Day Primary & Junior High
  • Tarrant High
  • Mavisville Preparatory
  • Vaz Preparatory
Correctional Facilities for Youth

Stony Hill, St. Andrew Remand Centre and Rio Cobre Juvenile Correctional Facility

Mercy institutions
The Lord’s Place, Sisters of Charity, Brothers of the Poor and Jacobs Well.
Attended Seminars / Conferences
  • National Youth Service & Heart Trust
  • Mega Fest/Manpower (Atlanta)
  • XTREME IMPACT (Barbados)
  • Crossing Cultural Borders (Texas)
  • Youth to Youth International Conferences (Rhode Island/Columbus Ohio)
  • Institutional Strengthening conference (Ocho Rios, St. Ann)
Attended Seminars / Conferences
  • impacted over 855,000 youth and adult caregivers;
  • empowered youth leaders to become actively involved in missions;
  • secured jobs for youth leaders who have graduated from the programme;
  • secured grants for youth leaders to gain entrance into institutions of higher learning;
  • conducted several one day workshops in Peer Leadership Development in schools and other youth organizations.
  • created opportunities for youth leaders to attend seminars and conferences locally, regionally and internationally.
  • conducted residential and non-residential camps for teens who are potentially at risk and other community youth groups;
  • partnered with well-known organizations in implementing prevention strategies geared towards youth empowerment;
  • published manuals and brochures in life management and health education topics for youth and adult caregivers;
  • YRY in collaboration with HEART/NSTA provides training in employable skills namely: data entry, customer service, dry wall, tile laying, drapery making and soft furnishings for youth and adult caregivers in the neighbouring communities;
  • Counsellors trained for Best Dressed Chicken/Glory Music “Fun In The Son” Festival – over 20, 000 over 15 years
  • Counsellors trained for ISCF – over 300

Meet the Team

Here are the people who help to make Youth Reaching Youth run like a well oiled machine, from day to day:
AngelaPlunkett

Angela Pryce-Plunkett

Executive Director

Albert Johnson

Albert Johnson

Programme Director

Marcella Young

Company Secretary

Angelica Kelly

Angelica Kelly-Plunkett

Accounting Officer

Michelle Sylvester

Michelle Sylvester

Act. Canteen Supervisor

Rameesh Ramsay

Ramesh Ramsay

Social Media Assistant

Georgia Wright

Georgia Wright

Jr. Accounting Clerk

Jahmari Farquharson

Jahmari Farquharson

Teacher Assistant

Shebjorn Owen

Shebjorn Owen

Cook

Sophia Pryce

Sophia Pryce

Cook Assistant

Board of Directors:

Dave Garcia (Chairman), Pastor David Henry, Angela Pryce-Plunkett, Col. Danny Pryce, Ian McNaughton, Kalando Wilmoth, Bertrand Smith, Camille Facey, Wilfred McKenley, Marcella Young (Company Secretary)

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