Programs & Services

YEA

The Youth Entrepreneurship Academy (YEA) is a unique program for Hampton Roads youth developed by Visions of Truth Community Development Corporation (VOTCDC), a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization.

VOTCDC is passionate about providing non- traditional educational opportunities in interactive ways that engage and challenge youth, while reinforcing learning. The Youth Entrepreneurship Academy provides the positive programmatic tools needed to expose students to and guide them through the disciplines, values and business acumen needed to help put them on the path to success.

Mission
The Youth Entrepreneurship Academy was developed to provide an educational experience to students throughout the City of Portsmouth, Virginia to increase the number of vulnerable young people succeeding in high school, postsecondary education and training, and the labor market; decrease disparities along key indicators for racial minorities, low income, foster and court involved youth.

Here's How the Youth Entrepreneurship Academy Works
The Youth Entrepreneurship Academy is a free program available to Portsmouth Public School District students in grades 7-12. The program offers coursework in math, English/language arts, science and social studies, all of which are carefully aligned with Virginia state standards to ensure that all students receive rigorous instruction that will result in academic achievement.

YEA's curriculum is based on a solid model developed by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) which has a proven track record of success in changing the attitudes and career aspirations of middle and high school students.

In addition to its core academic program, YEA offers entrepreneurship education utilizing curriculum developed by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), which has proven effective for more than 280,000 young people across the country. The unique features of YEA include:

Services available afterschool and during the day.
Strict code of conduct and discipline procedures
Emphasis on the importance of academic skills (reading, writing, research, math, and computer knowledge) through hands-on exercises such as writing a business plan, conducting market research, balancing books, and creating an inventory database.
Weekly academic assessments and frequent responsive adjustments to individual lesson plans
Presentations by local entrepreneurs and businesspeople from a variety of fields who will speak about how they got started.
Cooperative partnerships with area businesses that create job shadowing and externship opportunities for youth. In job shadowing, a youth follows an adult on the job for a day. In an externship youth spend a week working at a job site.
Coupled with a rigorous academic program, a strong disciplinary policy, and an entrepreneurial focus, YEA participants will complete the Youth Entrepreneurship Academy with a business/life plan and that will enable them to return to their communities and become positive and progressive citizens with entrepreneurial spirits or technical skills.

Youth Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Getting Ready for Entrepreneurship
Business Ideas for All Communities
Selling Your Idea
Start Up Cash
Open for Business
Types of Businesses
Bookkeeping: Breaking Even, Profit or Loss?
Know the Rules of the Game
Minding Your Business
The Business Plan

Job Readiness Curriculum

Your Job Search and Job Resources
Explore Job Applications and Create Yours
Resumes, Cover Letters, and References
Preparing for Job Interviews
Interview Success and Follow Up
Managing a Budget
Keeping and Succeeding in Your Job
On-the-job Etiquette
Success with Coworkers and Bosses

STRIVE

STRIVE is VOTCDC's flagship program. STRIVE is an acronym for Students Taking Responsibility In Valuing Education.

Mission
STRIVE's mission is to "Maximize the well being of children and families in Hampton Roads through the development and coordination of a comprehensive continuum of family-focused programs and services."

About STRIVE
STRIVE is an out-of-school suspension/prevention program designed to promote positive self-esteem and character traits, promote regular school attendance, and improve proficiency on state academic assessments as established by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Services provided to STRIVE participants include: remediation in the core academic subjects of reading, history, science, language arts, and mathematics; individual and group pro-social life skills training; access to technology; opportunities for civic engagement; and field trips and enrichment opportunities.

STRIVE youth spend 1-10 days in the program, during regular school days and times (Monday through Friday, 7:20 a.m. until 2:45 p.m.), depending on the length of their suspension, before returning to their traditional school setting.

STRIVE, in partnership with Portsmouth Public Schools, provided services to more than 350 middle and high school students who were suspended from school.

Referral Process
Students who receive short-term suspensions (1 to 10 days) may be eligible to enroll in the STRIVE program. Enrollment packets must be completed by the parents or guardians.

Parents, guardians or school personnel are encouraged to call STRIVE's office at 757-484-8794 to arrange an orientation.

Parenting and Family Growth and Learning Programs
Through its Parents as Models (PAM) STRIVE seeks to engage parents in their child's academic achievements. The goal of the program is to work with parents to provide them with tools that will equip them to be better parents, and to engage parents in their children's lives in an effort to improve and positively impact their academic, social and mental state.

In an informal and non-threatening setting, parents work with counselors to discover and come to terms with strategies that will help them parent and guide their children to academic success. They work to identify barriers, develop individual reward and consequence strategies, and learn effective tools to help them encourage positive academic outcomes for their children.

Financial Literacy

Financial stability is critical to achieving VOTCDC's vision of a community where the opportunity to build better lives is always within reach. Many Hampton Roads individuals and families are barely getting by, with little or no ability to save for college, purchase a home, or prepare for retirement. VOTCDC's agenda includes initiatives to educate families, enabling them to achieve greater financial stability. Through established partnerships VOTCDC is uniquely positioned to bring together individuals and key stakeholders from government, business, faith groups, and nonprofits to close the growing gap between those who are prospering, and those who are not.

Nationwide, people have shown a need for information and counsel on issues related to finances. For example:

Twenty percent of families earning less than $50,000 a year spend nearly half of their income on debt payments.
Conservative estimates put the number of households who do not use banks at 10 percent of the U.S. population. This problem is even greater among low-income families, seniors, immigrants, minorities and young people.
Approximately 57 percent of all divorces in America are due to financial stress.
In 2000, the average American household with at least one credit card carried a balance of nearly $8,000.

Services and Resources
VOTCDC offers a number of workshops and seminars, from writing effective resumes to assist the unemployed and underemployed with job hunts, to increasing credit scores to help residents get out of debt, become debt-free or purchase a home.

Included in its financial literacy program, are the following programs:

Homeownership counseling prepares individuals for what is often the largest single investment in a lifetime.
Education aimed at recognizing and avoiding abusive lending practices can protect individuals at risk of obtaining inappropriate and expensive loan products.
Job Readiness Workshops assist individuals with employment research, composing resumes and cover letters. In addition sessions offer skill assessments, information on how to engage in networking and preparation techniques for interviews and interviewing practices.

Other Services

After School and Parenting Programs
VOTCDc's after school program is designed to improve students' academic success and engagement in the learning process. The program provides academic and remedial instruction for students in the areas of English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Languages. Students gain specific knowledge and skills to help them meet the required Standards of Learning (SOL) for the State of Virginia. Sessions are conducted once a week for students in grades 6-12.

Parents As Models (PAM) is a parenting program founded by VOTCDC to help and engage parents in their children's academic success. Research supports the notion that parental participation in the educational process can significantly predict student performance, social adjustment and positively impact learning. U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (IES) research suggests that parents will participate in events that "feature some interaction with students' teachers and provide information on "parenting and school-related issues."

PAM supports, enhances and includes activities that strengthen this link between student academic achievement, positive behavior, and parental involvement.

For more information about Parents As Models, please call Margaret DePena at (757)967-9664 or email mdepena@votcdc.org.

Workforce Development
Vision of Truth Community Development Corporation's workforce development initiatives correlate to the City of Portsmouth's Destination 2025 initiative to build the skills of the local workforce. VOTCDC will accomplish through its existing partnership with the City of Portsmouth public school system and by identifying and establishing other key partnerships with educational institutions, businesses and community agencies and residents.

VOTCDC provides resources for business development through school-to-work initiatives in conjunction and collaboration with area industries, colleges and technical schools. Hampton Roads is the home of Norfolk Naval Base, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Norshipco, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, and Norfolk Southern. To that end, there is a potential link to shipbuilding programs at area colleges. On a broader scale, project sponsors are exploring a partnership to establish a business incubator with vocational and technical training, led by a consortium of local colleges and technical schools.

For more information about VOTCDC's workforce development initiatives, please call Margaret DePena at (757) 967-9664 or email mdepena@votcdc.org.

Phone

Help Desk
(757) 967-9664

Location

6006 Churchlands Blvd
Portsmouth, VA 23703-3327

Mailing Address

PO Box 6219
Portsmouth, VA 23703-0219

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