Street Dreams are made of these…
An innovative program that uses hip-hop dance to help address the issues that affect young people at risk has been launched this week throughout Sydney and the New South Wales central coast.
The Street Dreams program is fully funded by The Salvation Army Oasis Youth Foundation, and works in partnership with the charity organisation MMAD - Musicians Making A Difference. The program is open to anyone in the community, with highly motivated and skilled dance instructors teaching a weekly session. Each session also includes a valuable life lesson, with some topics covering self esteem and violence issues.
Among the Street Dreams vision and purpose is for it to be used as an early intervention program that will help to raise up a generation of healthy, community minded young people by inspiring and encouraging them to reach their full potential. As a key program for the Oasis Foundation, the aim is to develop and implement these creative, evidence based and inspirational programs within rural and regional areas in Australia to provide youth at risk a connection point to access help where services are minimal or non-existent.
Territorial Oasis Youth Foundation Consultant John Harris says for him, Street Dreams is about three key factors; community, culture and the church.
“Street Dreams is about connecting community, creating culture, and having the church create a safe place to cultivate conversations of hope and make an impact in this nation for at-risk young people,” says John.
At this stage, the program is targeting suburbs within three pilot areas of the territory; Sydney, the New South Wales Central Coast, and Brisbane. These suburbs have been identified as areas with a large population of at-risk young people that already have a Salvation Army facility in place to be able to hold the weekly Street Dreams sessions.
In preparation for the launch of Street Dreams, some young people who will be taking part in the program were given free registration to Camp 351. The camp, which is run by MMAD and was held at Collaroy from 11-13 May, often attracts well known artists. It is an opportunity for young people who are hoping to make it into the music industry to meet with industry greats. This year, stars from the TV show The Voice were surprise special guests.
Street Dreams kicked off in Sydney and the Central Coast this week, and will begin in Brisbane later this month. For more information on the Street Dreams program visit streetdreams.info
Report by Nathalia Rickwood
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