The Links, Incorporated’s Services to Youth facet utilizes an integrated approach to preparing young people to succeed in the 21st-century workforce and promoting healthy lifestyles within families and communities. Today, The Links, Incorporated continues to implement transformational programs that are responsive to the academic, health, cultural, and social awareness, career development, and mentoring needs of youth.

The primary goals of this facet are to:

• Close the achievement gap from pre-K through college, with the intent of preparing our youth for the global workforce as healthy citizens
• Promote the integration of a health and wellness component focused on youth, families, and communities in our Services to Youth programs.
• Develop training modules for local pre-K through college mentoring programs to ascertain a high level of support for youth in our communities.
• Expand and support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and promote the integration of the arts (STEM to STEAM)
• Promote and support historically black colleges and universities to ensure sustainability

By Marcia Robertson

It’s Tuesday afternoon and Ophelia Nicholson passes out magazine ads to a roomful of curious fourth-graders at North-side Elementary School.

“What do you see in that picture?” the Forest Hill Elementary School teacher asks 10-year-old Alvin Murray.

“A girl. That’s good!” he replies grinning as his classmates bend over their desks, nearly bursting with laughter.

“What else is in the picture?” Nicholson asks patiently.

“Oh, the alcohol?”

“Yes. Is that bad?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Alvin is one of the 24 fourth-graders at Northside learning to expect the best from themselves and their friends as a part of Project LEAD: High Expectations. The project is a pilot program conducted by the Shreveport Chapter of Links, a nationwide organization of women, and designed to enhance education, improve self-esteem and increase social awareness.

If the program is successful, the experience should improve the children’s future, says Albertine Hayes, who is heading the project. If everything goes as planned, Links will follow the children’s progress until they graduate from high school.

“All of it is done with the understanding that it will make them better adjusted and productive citizens,” Hayes says.

“We have been concerned about the direction our youth have been going in for a while, and since helping the youth is one of our organization’s goals, we decided to do something.”

The children meet after school every Tuesday for an hour. They are given a snack and large doses of positive messages. Occasionally, they are taken to museums and art exhibits. They also hear talks on various topics by local Links members.

Although Nicholson’s lessons dealt with legal drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco and over-the-counter medicines and pain killers, the children’s writing projects dealt mostly with illegal drugs.

“I think drugs are not good for you,” says Ronnie Thomas, 9. “You shouldn’t grow up to do drugs. It’s bad for you. It makes you break into people’s houses.”

For 10-year-old La Shannon Edwards, it’s worth staying after school for the program.

“You get to learn good things and you have a lot of fun. You have good teachers. You learn how to make your own decisions. You learn to draw how you feel when you are hurt. And High Q [sic] (Haiku)– that’s using seven works in a sentence.”

National Mentoring Initiative – The Links, Incorporated seeks to intervene and serve children who are growing up without the guidance and support of a caring, responsible adult. Research shows that mentoring decreases the likelihood that young people will engage in harmful behaviors while improving the chances that they will attend school regularly, improve academically, increase self-esteem, and engage in healthier lifestyles.

For more than a decade, the Shreveport (LA) Chapter has been providing engaging programming for a select group of 5th-grade girls at Caddo Heights Elementary School, which we call the Girls of Essence. We expanded the program to Bethune Oak Park Elementary School and 30 additional girls this year. Delivered throughout the school year, our interaction with and loving on our Girls on Essence involves each programming facet area. This year, our mentoring programming has included a visit to the SUSLA Art Museum, learning Hands-Free CPR, heart health, HBCUs, and learning about women leaders in various careers!

The Links, Incorporated established the Health and Human Services facet in response to the chronic health disparities that persist in black communities that result in the decreased life expectancy of African Americans and other people of African ancestry. The goal of HHS is to promote and facilitate programs that support the maintenance of good health and the elimination of chronic health disparities in communities of color through education, health advocacy, and optimal utilization of health resources.

The Links, Incorporated plays a significant role in providing our community education about health. The Shreveport Chapter of the Links Incorporated advocates and educates our community about healthy living as well as health disparities that persist in the African America Community. To encourage others, we also implement healthy life practices in our own daily lives.

Arts as an integral part of understanding and celebrating the African Culture. We have always been connected to the Arts as we have understood the importance of both the

Supporting the Arts while expanding the cultural perspectives of youth, the Shreveport (LA) Chapter granted season tickets to underserved children. In 1983, we began La Fiesta de les Artes and art festival held at the convention center. This festival featured live music and a celebration of various types of art to culinary arts, crafts, ethnic arts which were all open to the public.
From this beginning, the Shreveport Links’ commitment to the Arts took flight. We have supported local artists, quilters, and musicians.

LSUS Health System and LSUS Agriculture Center partnered with us for our Healthy Living program to build school gardens, where the children of Caddo Heights learned about healthy eating by planting, harvesting and eating beautiful fruits and vegetables.  They also learned about the importance of exercise, good decision making and being strong mentally.