Youth Development

The Youth Development Program was launched in 2003 to focus on enriching the lives of youth living with the disease. Children suffering with Sickle Cell Disease are generally absent from school more than the norm due to the pain they endure during a crisis. As a result, they tend to fall behind in the learning process. Therefore, we have developed a program that is designed to create recreational, educational and enrichment activities that enhance self-esteem and facilitate the development of skills needed to successfully cope with the chronic illness. Typically support programs, such as this, focus directly on the person(s) affected. The Youth Development Program has chosen to take a more comprehensive approach by engaging the family into the education and support process. Activities are structured to include the patient, their siblings and their parents/guardian.

• Fast Trackin' Youth Tutorial Program
• The Dream Makers Parent Advocacy Seminars
• Vocational/Career Assessment Program

Fast Trackin' Youth Tutorial Program

The goal of the youth tutorial program is to enable the students, through professional tutoring and mentoring, to become successful academically while assisting them in realistically appraising their vocational options. The primary focus of this program will be to enhance the student's reading, comprehension and math skills. The model that we deploy integrates the arts and horticulture into the learning process to augment/compliment the subject/lesson for the day. The intent of the tutoring program is to supplement the curriculum being taught by the educational institutions.

The Dream Makers Parent Advocacy Seminars

The Dream Makers Advocacy Center has its goal giving the family members affected by sickle cell disease the skills needed to successfully advocate on behalf of persons with the illness. The Center is both for parents of children and young adults with the disease but also for adults with the illness. There are 3 core areas of focus in the advocacy center: advocacy in the schools, advocacy in the healthcare system and advocacy in employment settings.

Vocational/Career Assessment Program

This program stresses the importance of making the right educational and career choice based on their disease. Participants age 13 and older are given an 80 question computerized assessment tool to determine what their interests are in various work and social areas. Once completed, the tool analyzes the individual participants' answers and ranks their interest in 13 career clusters. The participants review the careers in the cluster that they scored highest in and determine from that list which career best suites them based on their cognitive ability, physical ability, and of course their sickle cell disease. In addition to this, this program also shows the participant what classes they should take in high school and college to be successful in their career choice.

Sickle Cell Screening

Prior to 1989, Sickle Cell testing was not mandatory for newborns in the State of Illinois. Through our work with medical professions specialized in Hematology and review of statistical data on positive sickle cell testing among newborns, HAH learned that there was a great need to encourage African Americans over the age of 18 to get tested for Sickle Cell Disease. In 2006, we propose to begin a pilot Sickle Cell Screening Program in collaboration with Clear Channel Radio, specifically designed to attract young adults between the ages of 18 and 35-young adults in the "child bearing" years. The objective and goal of this program is to encourage testing and thereby obtain early diagnosis and prevention. Initial results from this pilot have been very positive and we envision this program continuing into the future.