Multicare Youth Foundation Making a Positive Impact at Denham Town High School

The MultiCare Youth Foundation (MYF) is reaping success in transforming the lives of students at the Denham Town High School in Kingston.

Through its cognitive behaviour therapy, mentorship and life skills training, the non-government organisation is changing the mindset of students and placing them on a path to success.

Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, Director of Projects and Strategic Management at the Foundation, Mitzian Turner, said that the inclusive approach to transformation is a formula that works.

“Probably one of the best [interventions] is what we’re doing at Denham Town High School. In this environment, we have offered our Passport to Success curriculum, cognitive behaviour therapy and it really transformed their lives,” she noted.

“There were a group of girls who were on the dean of discipline’s list and were on the verge of suspension or expulsion. We put them through our intervention and there has been a real turn around with those group of girls.

In fact, several of them became leaders in the school. One of them actually became the deputy head girl,” Mrs. Turner informed.

Executive Director of MYF, Alicia Glasgow Gentles, further cited support provided by the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation, through its Conversation for Greatness Programme, to help the school actualise its full potential.

Conversations for Greatness aims to create positive mindset change and allows persons to see that they have the power to create the transformation that they are seeking.

Noting the multiplier effect of the intervention at Denham Town High School, Mrs. Glasgow Gentles said that the change in attitude and outlook has also extended to the school leadership and staff.

“I’m talking about the entire staff. I’m talking about senior teachers, administrative staff and auxiliary staff, who are all trained in this,” she told JIS News.

Mrs. Glasgow Gentles said the MYF started its work at Denham Town High in 2018 and the changes at the institution since then “are undeniable”.

She expressed gratitude to the European Union (EU), which provided funding for the interventions.

“There is a palpable transformation. You walk into the school compound and the aura of the school is different. The behaviour of the students in general is different. The physical plant has improved significantly because the attitudes about the school itself and how they see themselves has totally changed the environment,” Mrs. Glasgow Gentles noted.

The MultiCare Youth Foundation has been working with its partners for more than two decades to empower underserved children with a multiplicity of skills to effect real and sustainable change in their lives, as well as the communities in which they live.

The non-government organisation has positively impacted the lives of over 200,000 at-risk youth across the island

In 2018, the organisation received the Prime Minister’s Jamaica 55 Commemorative Medal of Appreciation for service to Jamaica.