Programs:  Youth First!

SNG offers several youth-focused programs. The Youth First! Committee will oversee the youth-focused programs and actively involve participating youth as leaders in this community. The following youth-focused programs are offered:

• Public Achievement: Local youth get together and work on projects that mean something to them, and contribute to the community. They are guided by college-aged coaches, but decisions are made by the youth. This is a democracy creation initiative founded on the principle of public works. Ours is a pilot program, as Public Achievement usually takes place in schools, and Seward’s program is community-based. Spring groups are focused on river clean-up, helping the homeless.

• Longfellow/Seward Youth Champions: in partnership with Minnesota Family & Children Services. Youth Champions is a service that draws attention to and rewards youth for the good they do in their communities.

• PEACE Garden: A summer program that teaches kids how to grow produce. The harvest is sold to residents in the Towers, and in front of the Birchwood and Clicquot Club Cafes.

• Seward Neighborhood Art Photography Project (SNAPPz) puts cameras and knowledge of their use in the hands of youth. The program's goals are to provide youth with an empowering learning experience that will increase self-awareness, explore issues of cultural and social identity, and improve relationships among diverse people of all ages. Adult volunteers share their excitement about expression through the medium of photography. It is our hope that this program offers a valuable means of learning about a part of our community we need to better understand.