YOUTH PROGRAMS
SIPA’s Youth and After School programs enrich and engage youth in Historic Filipinotown to be better leaders for their community.
Youth and Family Development
Ensures youth and families within Historic Filipinotown and LA County have the knowledge and skills needed to build a healthy life. The holistic nature of the programs touch on the importance of a supportive community and fostering skills that allow for balance and growth in life.
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Walang Hiya is a Tagalog phrase that loosely translates to “shameless” or “without shame”. While it is a pejorative phrase, SIPA hopes to transform the saying to reclaim the notion of living without shame and seeking what one needs to be their full selves. SIPA’s program will engage high school and college age youth with self- awareness, normalizing help seeking behavior, and knowledge and skills needed to maintain balance and wellness, with particular focus on mental health and identity.
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Oftentimes gender and sexuality isn’t a topic that is discussed in Filipino communities. When a child comes out as an LGBTQ+ individual, parents naturally have a lot of questions. This closed group will help parents process how to love our LGBTQ+ children well so that we can foster healthy relationships in our homes. This group examines social, ethnic, psychological, and even spiritual issues that surround having LGBTQ+ children. Everyone who participates will be required to agree to complete confidentiality to create a safe space for discussion.
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Samahang Pilipino Advancing Community Empowerment (SPACE) from UCLA is a Peer Mentoring and Counseling program that supports Historic Filipinotown youth in their high school years to reach for academic and personal success. Meetings are currently at YMCA Ketchum-Downtown, but will move during the next academic year to SIPA’s new building, HiFi Collective.
Youth and Community Outreach
Brings together the community to ensure that community resources are shared among those who need it most. Additionally, the Youth and Community Outreach teaches Filipino culture to LA youth to ensure that the culture and stories of our ancestors are not forgotten.
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The Halloween Carnival: This annual event creates a safe and family friendly space to enjoy the Spooky Season with fun games, contests, and food! In the past, we have done a Haunted House, Halloween Movie Showing, and more for some Halloween fun.
Holiday Toy Festival: Every year, SIPA hosts a Holiday Toy Festival to celebrate the Holiday season within the Historic Filipinotown community. Every year, we give out toys to youth and families in HiFi, provide a small Holiday concert, and serve a delicious Filipino breakfast to attendees. In years past, we’ve had celebrities like Saweetie, P.Lo, and Eugene Cordero hand out toys to deserving families.
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The Youth Leadership Institute is a program that provides youth the tools necessary to ensure that their communities are safe and knowledgeable of skills that lessen anti-Asian violence. Through this program, youth will have training on bystander intervention and de-escalation techniques. These skills empower them to intervene and stop inappropriate behavior before it becomes serious while ensuring the safety of their community. With an intersectional lens on our program, we hope the Youth Leadership Institute creates a space of healing, empathy, and growth for youth.
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The Filipino Summer Program hopes to foster a sense of cultural awareness and personal empowerment with Pilipinx/o/a youth and other youth. SIPA’s Filipino Summer Program is a 6-day experience that enriches, educates, and engages youth about the Pilipino culture!
Residential Services
Takes place at our different affordable and supportive housing units in and around Historic Filipinotown: El Centro Loretto Apartments, HiFi Collective, and Lucena on Court. This program supports youth in healthy positive development, cultural engagement, and academic success.
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In addition to supplemental education services, youth in our affordable and supportive housing units can participate in a summer program that exposes them to the different monuments and sites around Los Angeles.
