Community Programs

As our life circumstances change, many of us find we need new tools, new knowledge, and new attitudes to deal successfully with them. CHC believes that refining and renewing our personal assets and life skills is a dynamic, life-long process. CHC provides training in many of those necessary new skills, whether they are for professional advancement (Training for Trainers), personal growth (communication skills, building self-esteem), or to help people become positive, contributing members of our community (programs for people in probation programs and in correctional facilities.)
CHC plays an active role in several community initiatives, including the Community Schools Partnership, the annual Week Without Violence, and Lepoco's Peace Camp.
Descriptions of some of CHC's community programs are found on this page. For more information, please contact us.

Across Ages

Across Ages is a school and community-based project that matches up two underutilized resources – youth ages 9-13, and older adults (50+)—with the goal of strengthening ties across generations in a community. The purpose of the program is to help young adolescents, especially those from families struggling with poverty, substance use, or family instability, make the transition to middle school and beyond with the mentoring support of an interested and involved adult from outside their family. In Across Ages, the youth and their mentors work side-by-side on community service projects, and also spend time together at sports or cultural events and other activities. The adult mentor may also assist with school projects or homework, and provides a positive role model. The program provides life skills training for the youth, as well as prevention education about alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and offers family activities to build skills and improve family life.
Across Ages was developed by Temple University’s Center for Intergenerational Learning and is used in more than 30 communities in the U.S. For more information, contact CHC at 484-821-0375.

Community School Partnership at Lincoln Elementary School

Center for Humanistic Change is the lead partner in the Community School Partnership (CSP) at Lincoln Elementary School in Bethlehem. The Partnership is part of a strategy of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley called COMPASS (Community Partners for Student Success) which introduced the community school model to the Lehigh Valley. A community school integrates academics, health and social services, and youth and community development with the goal of improving both learning and the students' environment--family and neighborhood--outside the school.
As the lead partner in the CSP at Lincoln, CHC employs, supervises and supports the Community School Coordinator. The coordinator initiates and manages many of the activities in the school which advance the partnership's aims of enriching and supporting the students' education, and engaging their famliies and community in support and involvment in the school.
CHC also provides program, financial, and in-kind support for the school and its students and families. Crossroads, our mentoring and peer support program for children with behavioral problems and/or difficult life circumstances, was introduced for the 2008-09 school year, thanks to grants secured by CHC. A Backpack Buddies program, which supplies ten children who depend on school meals for their nutrition with a weekend's worth of food every Friday, was initiated with a grant from General Mills, and will continue during the 2009-2010 school year supported by a grant from BJ's Wholesale Clubs.

In the photo to the right, Lincoln students work on the mural they painted in the main hallway under the direction of two artists from the Banana Factory and two parent volunteers.

Week Without Violence

CHC participates in Allentown's annual Week Without Violence. The week in mid-October, which involves several agencies coordinated by the YWCA, offers educational programs and fun events for children, teens, and families, all of which aim to guide them to make peaceful, positive choices about their lives and behavior.