At Yes! we provide programs that Enrich, Educate, and Empower our members so that they are encouraged to become independent advocates who are fully intergrated in our inclusive society at large. Our programs are primarily offered at our Community Center on Busch Blvd. in Tampa, and in partnership with like-minded organzations. We have advocacy classes, public speaking seminars, art workshops, computer skills training sessions, life skills days, volunteering coures, social outings, legislative updates, and much more.
Our programs all emanate from our belief that offering a hand up and not a hand out is the best way to encourage persons with disabilities to become more active and engaged with the society as a whole. Below are the main areas from which we conduct our programming. We are always looking for people who want to share their professional skills with our members in the form of unique programs, classes, and workshops. If you believe in our philosophy and are interested in volunteering just contact us at the YES! Community Center, 813-935-5696. We are always very appreciative of those who choose to help us.
ENRICH
In this first
step of outreach Yes! invites members of the disability community to expand their
daily opportunities by joining the inclusive environment of the YES! Community
Center to help enrich their lives and bring them out of their comfort zone and
into a realm where they can benefit from all that YES! has to offer. Current
YES! members, who have already been engaged in the education and outreach training
we offer, reach out into the community at large to encourage persons with disabilities
to participate in the programming, education, and social support network of YES! In
this way, YES! truly stands up to it’s name as “Your Enrichment Services” by
encouraging persons with disabilities to get out of the house and into an inclusive,
educational environment of the YES! Community Center. Our center is a safe space
where everyone is afforded the right and opportunity to grow and learn the skills
of independence so that they may become more integrated into the larger society
as advocates and extenders of our philosophy that we give a hand up to persons
in need by focusing on their abilities not their disabilities.
EDUCATE
Once we
have accomplished the first, and often most difficult step of encouraging people
to choose life enrichment by making the YES! Community Center a part of their
life, we then being to educate our members via unique programs that focus on
building self-esteem, self-determination, self-dependency, and self-advocacy. YES!
was founded by persons with disabilities who believed that if we are willing
to embrace educating ourselves to be more self-reliant and focus on our abilities
then we will not only be more contented and satisfied with our lives, but we
will be more productive members of society, able to advocate and defend the
rights of persons with disabilities to live full and inclusive lives in the
community at large. In this way then we offer advocacy classes “I
can Educate”, speakers training “Speak out and up”, social
awareness classes “Getting out and becoming a part of the community”,
arts for all classes that engage our members with their abilities, Computer
Skills training to promote life skills with computers, outreach activities,
legislative trips and updates, and much more. We are constantly improving
upon our training and education as we grow and become a larger part of the
community, reaching more people and providing more opportunities to those in
need.
EMPOWER
Finally,
our members who have graduated from the various classes and programming we
offer are ready to be empowered individuals in their community. We
provide them with ample opportunities to exercise the skill they have learned
via volunteering, working, living, socializing, being active advocates, and
being an integral park of society. We reward members for volunteer hours
and we use the positive mentoring process to help members become more integrated
with work opportunities, social outings, and by encouraging them to take ownership
over the roles and responsibilities of the Community Center. We have
found that our graduates are effective communicators and educators who utilize
their abilities foremost and are not defined by their disabilities, but rather
by their character, abilities, and personality.
- Abilities Bank - Identify and utilize abilities
- Social and Support - Blooming Relationships
- Mentoring and Referral - Peer mentoring; giving a hand up, not a handout
- Education and Advocacy - Knowledge promotes change
- Research and Resource- Tomorrow's solutions used today
- Library/Equipment Exchange - If you need it, take it. When you're done, bring it back