IM JUST ME MOVEMENT

The I’m Just Me Movement (IJMM) became a 501c3 organization in 2015 and will serve as the lead agency and fiscal agent for this request. The work of IJMM has focused on providing support and volunteer mentors for young people who have struggled with the negative effects of trauma or the lack of positive role models in their lives. IJMM served as a volunteer training agency within the Northwest Juvenile Detention Center from 2016-2019. They continue to provide programs at JobCorp to help support young people as well as through a program that works with children who are victims of crime where they implement the Whole Health and Resilience curriculum. Two additional partners will round out the service providers. Selah Theater will provide classes in public speaking and also drama. They will help students gain self-confidence and find an outlet to express their feelings through drama and the students will ultimately present plays for the community. Arte Libre seeks to expose young people to the visual arts as a way to express their inner feelings, particularly feelings that they have difficulty expressing verbally.

The target audience will be children from Winchester City Public Schools in grades K-12 who have experienced adverse childhood experiences and are at risk for unhealthy decisions and/or involvement with law enforcement.

The Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) study revealed that people who are exposed to trauma in childhood have many long- term health impacts caused by the dysregulation that trauma causes to the body’s overall functioning. The ACE study found that across the population, 61% of the people who are in jail were there as a result of adverse childhood experiences which lead to poor impulse and behavior control.

Winchester is located 70 miles outside of Washington, DC in the Shenandoah Valley. Of the 6 localities that make up the Lord Fairfax Planning District it is the most racially/ethnically diverse. According to the US Census Bureau, Winchester has a population of 28,078 as of July 1st 2019. The demographic breakdown is as follows: White only, not Hispanic or Latino 65.7%, Hispanic/Latino 18.3%, Black 11.3%, or two or more races 3.6%. It is interesting to note that 22.5% of the population is under age 18. In comparison to the median income of Virginia which is $85,880, Winchester’s median income is $51, 336 with only 44.3% of houses being owner occupied. Of the adult population age 25+ only 84.1% have a high school diploma.

In drilling down to the child population, 23.4% under age 18 are living in poverty according to Kids Count 2019 in comparison to 14.5% for Virginia as a whole. Thirty three percent of children start kindergarten below readiness level. The on- time graduation rate for Winchester schools is 89.5% and for Virginia it is 91.5%. (Kids Count 2019) The rate for children entering foster care in Winchester is 2.25 times higher than the state of Virginia.

Research shows that children in poverty and children of color are more likely to experience ACEs and often have fewer resilience factors available to them to help ameliorate the effects of ACEs. This program will seek to provide the skills that the students need through combining the evidenced based Whole Health Resiliency Model and the Early Risers Skills for Success program, along with expert led performing and visual arts instruction and workshops. This will provide exposure to the arts to youth who don’t otherwise have access. The arts are known to help students express their feelings, process adverse experiences and trauma, as well as provide creative and critical thinking skills that will serve them their entire lives.

IJMM core program Live Life Forward Initiative, this program is customized to meet your organization's specific goals, schedules, and needs. We can also incorporate follow-up mentoring, field excursions and advanced follow-on workshops. Program can be tailored from 1.5-hour mini-sessions to full day programs. The core curriculum is focused on 4 foundational elements:
• Self-Acceptance
• Positive Peer Pressure
• Breaking Through Roadblocks and Overcoming Adversity
• ACES ( Adverse Childhood Experiences)
Behavioral Changes