Reach Within is challenging Grenadians to join their initiative to keep vulnerable children and young adults off Grenada’s streets and in progressive programmes that help them to thrive. In July of this year, Reach Within invited approximately 50 of Grenada’s top-tier professionals eager to learn about Reach Within’s mission and in particular, how the business community can offer internships to adolescents and young adults in need of professional mentoring. Hosted by Laluna, this ambitious crowd- which included Prime Minister Dikon Mitchell- also heard first-hand from former program beneficiaries just how much professional mentoring changes life trajectories.

The Reach Within Internship program is geared at providing valuable job and life skills training to adolescents who have been part of the child welfare system (growing up in residential care homes) and who at the age of eighteen years must navigate life independently. “We must all work together to ease the burden of child abuse for its survivors and the nation at large,” said Reach Within Founder Dr. Karen Lawson “The social, economic, and environmental impact of child abuse spreads far and wide and affects all the people of a nation.”

On a yearly basis vulnerable children are removed from abusive households by the Child Protection Authority of the ministry of Social Development and placed in residential care homes. In these homes they are fed clothed and educated until their 18^th birthday. At age 18, however, children in care homes around Grenada are expected to find another home. For those, who cannot return to a stable home environment, or who have a lack of income and direction often end up street connected, which can lead into a life of crime and residence at Her Majesty’s Prison.

Reach Within (www.reachwithin.org) is a local non-profit that supports the Child Protection Authority by providing hope and material goods for these young Grenadians. Its drop-in centre on Old Fort Road for teens who have aged out of residential care provides crucial support in the form of counseling, housing advocacy, life skills training (on topics such as hygiene, safe sex, and healthy food choices) and adult skills (budgeting, preparing for a job interview, and getting an ID card). The Reach Within Internship program provides a critical opportunity to become part of a broader community, to learn valuable skills and to receive the necessary support that every young adult deserves.  Together, we are ensuring that nobody transitioning from the residential care system is left behind. If you would like to provide an internship placement, please contact: info@reachwithin.org

Written by Reach Within Intern: Shreya Saravanan