Dallas County, Texas – Years of bullying, harassment and cyberbullying in high school left Jynee feeling isolated, and without friends and support.
Her family reached out to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. in Dallas that offers a Behavioral Health program where she was paired with former YAP® Qualified Mental Health Professional Angela Heggins.
“[Heggins] became my huge support throughout my high school years,” Jynee wrote in her YAP® Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education application essay. “I believe I have benefited from the program by exploring my identity and self-worth, learning self-love. Additionally, the program helped me with college planning, life readiness and maintaining a positive attitude during high school.”
In the fall, Jynee begins her freshman year at the University of Texas at Arlington as a first-generation college student where she plans to major in nursing and join the college’s Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program.
Jynee was encouraged to apply for the Endowment Fund, which is mostly funded by YAP® employees, where beneficiaries are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarship annually. The award is $1,500 for college or trade school tuition, fees or supplies, or a laptop computer. The unique Endowment Fund also received generous donations from the YAP® Board of Directors and other contributors.
YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems in communities across the U.S. to deliver family-centered, accountability-focused services as an alternative to correctional and residential care facilities. Principles of the nonprofit’s evidence-based alternative-to-placement model are also applied to its work with public safety systems to reduce neighborhood violence.
YAP® Dallas County’s Behavioral Health Program offers a continuum of mental health to support children and adolescents in their homes, schools and communities.
YAP®’s services help individuals build resilience and promote healing and mitigate potential negative impacts by connecting youth with supportive adults, providing evidence-based treatments. Aside from Dallas, the Texas program is offered in Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio and surrounding areas.
“I am preparing for my college and military goals to successfully become a reality,” Jynee added. “I’m still in communication with my Advocate who has been a huge help throughout the school year and encouraged me to follow my dreams.”
For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org. To donate to the Endowment Fund, click here.
