Prom Project

We spoke with Waterbury Youth Services Juvenile Justice Team Leader Rasheeda Wright about the “Prom Project.”

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to community access. My
guests this morning, our Rashida Wright Juvenile Justice Team later
at the Waterbearer Youth Services and Samantha Santos, office coordinator
at Waterbeero Youth Services. Good morning, ladies, Good morning, good morning,
Thank you for having us, Thanks for being here. I
appreciate it. For people who don't know about Waterbeer Youth Services,

(00:22):
maybe give us a little bit of background on what
you do.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Of course, Waterbere Youth Service is a nonprofit, community based organization.
We have about sixteen different programs with three overarching categories.
We have our Positive Youth Development Team, we have our
Juvenile Justice Team, and we have our clinical team, as
well as two standalone programs, Power and our Child Advocacy Center.

(00:50):
We serve youth ages three to twenty four. We are
the designated Youth Service Bureau in the state of Connecticut.
And then we also have four differ agency events that
we have annually.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
And your website is Waterbeer Youth Services dot org. If
anybody would like to follow along and check out all
the programs and services that you offer. So you have
a great event that's coming up called the prom Project.
Tell me all about it.

Speaker 3 (01:15):
So our Prom Project event is taking place April eleventh,
four to seven, April twelve, ten to twelve at eighty
three Prospect Street, Waterbury, Connecticut. Walkins welcome as well.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
So why did you decide to have this event?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Well, this is our twenty first year of having this event.
We have it annually every year at Waterbeer Youth Services
and the goal is just to give back to the community.
That's the number one goal. We know that prom is
so expensive and we want to help our youth to
be able to avoid the financial barriers and just be

(01:52):
relieved from their stress about worrying about how do I
get my gown, how do I get my tucks, I
have to get my hair done. So our ability just
to give out the accessories, the shoes, makeup, tuxes, dress,
and we just see a smile on these youth face
as they prepare to go to prom.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
So are they going to the prom at their school?
Are you actually having a prom event for them?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
No, no, we're not having a prom event for them.
It's for the prom at their school.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
I see. So, how is it that you're able to
provide the attire with the toxes, the dresses, the shoes,
the makeup, jewelry, nails, all of it.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Yeah, So we always get donations from the community, so
anyone can call and say, hey, I want to donate
this item. But one of our big partners is Jordan's Furniture.
They have donated two hundred dresses to us this year,
so that that's a big helpful resource that we've been
in communication with every year. So thank you to Jordan's Furniture,

(02:51):
and thank you to all of our community families that
just come down to the agency and donate.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
To us, or they could go online as well. Absolutely,
and that again is Waterbear Youth Services dot org. Today
you said you have about two hundred dresses that you're
going to be giving out. Have you given more before?
Do you need more? Maybe this year?

Speaker 3 (03:12):
So we have received an abundant of prompdresses currently.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
So people can drop off the dresses I was thinking money.
They can also do both yep. Very nice. So people
can actually drop off a tire like shoes, etc.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
Anything yep. And that nature. Wow.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
Tell me some of the responses you've gotten from kids
who've taken advantage of this prom project.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
I can recall last year we had a single mom
and her daughter couldn't really afford anything really, and they
came down to the event. By the way, the event
is completely free, so any item that you come to
get is free, and they were just so excited. We

(03:56):
were able to give them two dresses just because they
were a little bit into side, and you know, like
Sam said, we have an abundance of dresses there, so
we were able to give them two dresses. She walked
away with two choices for prom, and then they did
reach out later on to just thank us for the
opportunity to get those dresses and be able to attend

(04:16):
prom again without having those stressing of financial barriers.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
What is the deadline for the prom project?

Speaker 2 (04:25):
Well, there's no deadline to sign up, even if you
just want to come in on the day of. Like
Sam said, the event is April eleventh and April twelfth.
April twelfth is our last day that we will be
hosting the event for this year.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Are you in need of any certain sizes for men
or women?

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Most like more or less just plus sizes, and the
women's dresses you size and more or less i'd say tuxedo.
What's hire for the men?

Speaker 1 (04:55):
Are you looking for anybody to offer their services for
makeup or hair.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yes, we are, so they can get in contact with
us via email reach out and we can definitely coordinate
with that.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Are you looking for volunteers, Yeah, the more of the mirror.
I know that you are Waterbeer Youth Services, but do
you serve any other areas besides.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yes, we do serve the towns around Waterbury, so Prospect, Naugatuck,
wilk It, Watertown. But this event is open to all
youth in the state of Connecticut. Last year, I believe
we were able to serve about eighty youth, so we're
hoping that one hundred youth will be served this year,
just you know, increasing that number every year so that

(05:36):
the youth can attend prom whether it be in Waterbury,
New Haven, Hartford. We're open to all youth in the
state of Connecticut.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
How nice and how can they sign up for the event?

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Sign Up is on event bright. You can also go
on Waterbeer Youth Services Facebook page as well as our
website Waterbear Youth Services dot org. In order to sign up,
you could always call our office set to zero three
five seven three zero two six flour and we can
provide you with more information on signing up as well.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
So have either of you been there the day of
the event. Are the kids like running from thing to
thing like, oh I want to try this? Oh my gosh,
I'm gonna do that. What's that like?

Speaker 2 (06:16):
Oh yeah, I think it's an overwhelming process, you know,
there's so much to choose from. Yes, we've been there
on the day of the event, and really what we
have are people stationed within our Great Hall is what
we call it. So we have personal shoppers that will
walk with the youth and say, you know, are you
a size eight, and just show them around to the

(06:37):
options that they have. Then we have people that will
help them try on their gowns, zip it up for them,
just give them words of encouragement, words of affirmation, and
then they can move along to our makeup and shoe
area where they can decide if they want to pick
something out from there, as well as jewelry. So there's
a lot of hands on deck that help the youth,

(06:59):
especially the who are a little bit indecisive. We know
how hard it is to find the perfect attire, but
there's plenty of people there that will help them out.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
So they actually take the makeup with them. For some reason,
I was thinking somebody was going to do their makeup
that day, but there probably may not be that.

Speaker 3 (07:14):
Day, I know it. Yeah, their dates all scattered, but
we do have donations of like vouchers for here for
makeup that the community does donate as well.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Oh that is so nice. Do you find that you
receive more girls than boys at this thing or is it.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Even traditionally we have received more girls, and I think
starting last year we've seen an increase in the males
coming out and you know, just trying to find the
attire as well. We are hoping to get some partnerships
with men Warehouse and other sites that have those male

(07:48):
attires so that the males can you know, participate in
this event as well.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Absolutely. What would you say to a child I call
them a child or a teenager who feels funny says
I don't think I want to go. What would you
say to them?

Speaker 2 (08:03):
I think a lot of exploration around their hesitation, acknowledging
that this is a fun night, something to look back
on for their high school experience, and then again just
giving them words of affirmation, you know, being that support
for them and encouraging them.

Speaker 1 (08:21):
I think sometimes people feel they don't want to receive
a handout, or they're embarrassed to go in there. But
there's nothing to be embarrassed.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Nothing at all. No.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
I'm speaking with Samantha Santos, office coordinator at Waterbury Youth
Services and Rashida Wright, Juvenile Justice team leader at Waterbeer
Youth Services. Also, it's the prom Project event you can
help out. Go to Waterbury Youth Services dot org look
at their Facebook page. You can also call there. They
need jewelry, tuxes, dresses, shoes, makeup, anything you can think of,

(08:54):
and you will bless a child's life for the rest
of their life. They'll never forget it. Thank you so
much for being here today to day, both of you
and for all the work you do.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Thank you. Have a great day.