NEWS CENTER

Case's Mandel Center receives $762,000 to expand Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship Program

An innovative Case Western Reserve University program to support professionals working with middle school youth has received a major financial boost.

July 18, 2005 | For more information: Jeff Bendix 216-368-6070

Case's Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations has been awarded $762,101 over two years to help fund its Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellowship Program. The program provides education, peer support and coaching for youth development professionals at social service and community organizations who work with middle school-age young people.

"We are extremely grateful to the Treu-Mart fund for their support of the fellowship program," said Patricia Heilbron, program director. "This is an important, high-quality program that is vital to professionals who work with middle school youth. We're providing them with the support they need to get done the job done."

An initial cohort of 16 Treu-Mart Youth Development Fellows is currently undergoing training. Four additional cohorts, each consisting of 16 fellows, will be trained over the next two years.

The objectives of the fellowship program are to:

• Provide intellectual and professional support to direct service providers working with youth
• Build on the strengths of community-based agencies and the youth professionals who are employed in those agencies
• Serve as a catalyst to shift the community perception of youth from risk to resiliency, viewing youth as having assets and talents that can be developed

The support component of the program includes educational residencies in which fellows learn about resiliency and youth development; regular follow-up meetings in which participants can discuss ways in which they've integrated the resiliency model into their work; and one-on-one coaching.

Heilbron said the program has the capacity to train enough fellows to work with more than 5,700 young people over the next several years.

The Treu-Mart Fund was founded in 1980 by Elizabeth and William Treuhaft to support programs aiding children and youth. It is a supporting organization of the Cleveland Foundation and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.

The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations was founded at Case in 1984 under the leadership of the Weatherhead School of Management, the School of Law, the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences and the College of Arts and Sciences. It acts as a university-wide multidisciplinary center for nonprofit education, research and community service and is nationally recognized as a resource nonprofit managers and leaders, faculty members, researchers and anyone who works in, supports or studies the nonprofit sector.

About Case Western Reserve University

Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826 and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research, service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering, Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.