Merry Christmas from Real Life!

Real Life in Salt Lake City (RLSLC) gets underway on January 7th.  We couldn't wait that long to meet all of our new friends so we threw a Holiday Party where we made gingerbread houses and got to know everyone. 

RLSLC is a teen refugee mentoring program that partners Youthlinc students with teens from the Hser Ner Moo Welcome Center in South Salt Lake.  The program meets 3 times a week and does a variety of activities, lessons, games and field trips. 

There were 34 Real Life teens in attendance at the Holiday Party along with 17 Youthlinc students.  We met at the Hser New Moo Center and it was packed!  Music was playing and all of the participants spread out to make the best gingerbread house they could come up with.  The new Youthlinc students got the opportunity to meet a lot of the teens that they will get to know well over the next few months. 

Prizes were given to the most creative gingerbread houses.  A few of the elementary students were the judges.  Wahe was one of the winners! 

 The party ended in true Real Life fashion - with a dance circle.  Seems as though the Real Life teens have been practicing some of their dance moves they learned last year.  This year's dance classes may turn into a full on dance competition!

 

Real Life will begin on January 7th and we will keep you up to date on all of the adventures to come!

Local Service is our Heart and Soul!

Youthlinc has begun another Service Year!  Our 6 Service Teams met for the first time throughout December and started getting to know each other.  Each of these teams will complete an amazing number of service hours in their own communities this coming year.  We are so proud of our teams and the good they do in the community!  

Every participant is asked to select a main service site in December.  Their main service site is a service organization of their choosing where they will commit to serve 1/2 of their total required hours for the Youthlinc program.  We ask that the organization they choose be a hands on site where they will be actively involved with a needy population.  The majority of students have already selected their main service site and the remaining students are learning a lot about the different options there are out there to serve!  

Once all team members have completed their service hours they will have contributed over 13,620 hours of service throughout the State of Utah!  

Guatemala Team

(60 hours of local service each)    

Some sites chosen so far: 

• Elise Anderson - Boys & Girls Club
• Kristen Bernard - Special Needs Mutual
• Jacob Cushing - Camp Kostopulos
• Maicy Gardner - Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Sasha Glass - Real Life SLC
• Amanda Phillips - Hser Ner Moo Welcome Center
• Ashton Richards - American Red Cross Youth Council 
• Brooke Stonely - Family Support & Treatment Center 

The Peru Team 

(80 hours of local service each)

 Some sites chosen so far: 

• Stephen Buma - Murray Hospital
• Broc Jones - Operation Smile
• Victoria Landa-Steinau - Inclusion Center
• Lauren Maack - Salt Lake Regional Medical Center
• Kelsey Oliver - Asian Immigration and Refugee Center
• Alyssa   Sheehan - Real Life SLC
• Benjamin Steenblik - Special Needs Scouting

The Thailand Team

(80 hours of local service each)  

 

The Vietnam Team

(80 hours of local service each) 

 

 Some sites chosen so far: 

• Alex Owens-Baird - Real Life SLC
• Alyssa Clark - Real Life SLC
• Brady Whitlock - Beehive Home
• Carly Barton - Good Shepherd Hospice
• Erin Colby-Dobell - National Ability Center
• Tessie Pham - George E. Walhen Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

The Cambodia Team 

(80 hours of local service) 

 Some sites chosen so far: 

•  Shaelyn Barber - Davis County Community Hospital
• Hailey Lijenquist - Family Support and Treatment Center
• Whitney Madsen - Orchard Elementary 
• Ashlyn Perrero - Boys and Girls Club
• Saige Wheaton - Catholic Community Services
• Carter Woolf - Real Life SLC

 The Kenya Team 

(100 hours of local service each)