The Center for Self Discovery (CSD-DC) works to support the social and emotional growth of low-income, under-served youth and their families in the greater Washington area. Our mentoring programs provide opportunities for self-discovery and understanding, empathy and hope. Through these programs, we support positive change and growth within the context of caring relationships and emphasize our clients’ strengths and problem-solving abilities to improve their lives. In addition to our mentoring programs, CSD-DC is developing a pro bono mental health counseling linkage service for those individuals in need, both youth and adults, who are unable to afford such services.
OUR PROGRAMS
- TEENS RUN DC (TRDC) empowers at-risk youth to envision and work towards the achievement of personal goals through a youth mentoring and distance running program. Over the course of nine months, TRDC Running Leaders, Mentors, and Friends challenge and guide these youth to develop the skills necessary to achieve their running goals and their life goals.
- THROUGH MY EYES: DC PHOTO NARRATIVE PROJECT (TME-DC) empowers at-risk youth, providing them with a safe space where they can give vision and voice to their life stories. Under the guidance of dedicated and empathic mentor-leaders, these youth photograph and write about themselves, their families, their communities, their experiences. Offering them the skills to document their real life stories and to share those stories within the company of similarly directed-youth and with the world, they are strengthened in their sense of themselves and their connection to others.
- DC COUNSELING CONNECTION (DCCC) assures that uninsured or under-insured, low-income individuals and families, living in the District of Columbia in need of mental health care are linked with licensed and insured mental health professionals who can provide care on a volunteer basis at no cost. DCCC enlists the volunteer efforts of clinicians who are committed to supporting those clients who could not be served by other means.
