ASTEP has been working hard to establish a venue for teaching ART to today’s youth and using it as a catalyst for education and awareness. The ASTEP arts camp in Homestead, Florida aims to do just that as we break down the barriers of racism, confront negative issues pertaining to our diverse population, and to increase awareness and empower the feelings of individualism.

The ASTEP Art-in-Action Experience has been built to offer its participants artistic alternatives for channeling their emotions as opposed to drug abuse, violence or crime. It serves as a safe environment where the arts are used as a vehicle of self- exploration and expression and where young people are taught the motivational skills to care for and love themselves. 

ASTEP works in collaboration with EnFamilia Inc., a local NPO that has been dedicated to serving the communities of South Dade. Their mission is to build healthy family relationships, examine and preserve cultural values and enrich the quality of life through education and the arts. Our common goal is to empower the youth of southern Florida with communication and leadership skills to help transcend the barriers that they face. 

The ASTEP Experience (Homestead) provides dance, drama, music, poetry, playwriting literature and visual art workshops for the children of Homestead during summer break (June and July).  The month-long intensive session starts daily at 8:30 a.m. and ends around 5 p.m.  During that time, the students are able to work with arts professionals in a safe and inspiring environment. Throughout the day, there are numerous opportunities for the sharing of new work among the students and the teachers. For many of the students, this will be their first exposure to the arts. The ASTEP experience is offered free of charge for the children who participate.

Impact Summary:

Since the program's inception in 2003, EnFamilia & ASTEP have partnered with 8 nonprofit organizations. In the past five years, 60 ASTEP volunteers have, alongside 45 local high school volunteers and 60 family members, contributed over 30,000 hours to the community of Homestead. Over 50% of our Students and Volunteers return to the program on a yearly basis. Our year-round Youth Leadership program has mentored 20 students, and many of our graduating seniors have moved into secondary schooling and are pursuing the arts on a meaningful level.

Volunteers have introduced students to the worlds of Shakespeare and Martha Graham, The Beatles and Chopin, Improvisation and Mural-making, film-making and photography, Augusto Boal and Martin Luther King, and many more. Students of the program have been a part of 7 performances serving an average audience of 250 parents and community members per performance. Participants have created 6 murals, 13 dances, 14 theatrical sketches, 7 camp anthems, and 9 films. The program has received accolades from the city of Homestead & Florida City, and has received special coverage by the Miami Herald and local NBC affiliates.

Youth who grow up in Homestead, Florida experience an America that is profoundly different than the America that most of us know.

The City of Homestead is located on the southeastern tip of the Florida peninsula. Located in southern Miami-Dade County, Homestead’s poorest areas have been designated “hyper-poor” by the Department of Children and Families.  Tremendous wealth inequalities exist – with the glitz and glamour of Miami highlife juxtaposed with areas of unimaginable violence and poverty.  In areas around Homestead, poverty rates are a staggering 44 percent, well above the county’s already high 14 percent average.  Nearly 420,000 residents throughout the county live below the poverty line.

Homestead’s poverty has had a devastating impact on family and social structures.  One out of every eight children in the County is born to a teenage mother. Marriage rates have declined while divorce rates and rates of separated couples have risen.  One horrific feature of this decline in stable families is high rates of domestic and sexual abuse and violence. Miami-Dade County reports over 15,000 cases of domestic violence per year, the reported cases representing just a fraction of the total number of cases.

The population consists mostly of first generation Haitians and Hispanics (including Mexicans, Colombians, and Cubans). Homestead is an integral part of the vegetable, fruit and foliage market business in the United States and relies heavily on migrant workers to tend the fields and groves. As a result, they have become the cheap labor force behind this billion-dollar industry. Tremendous tensions exist between many of these groups.  Ethnic, racial, and class-based divisions often manifest themselves in gangs, and gang-related violence – including murder, armed robbery, drug-dealing, and rape.

Youth in southern Florida who hope to escape these circumstances find little support in their efforts to do so. The Miami-Dade school system is plagued by the ethnic and racial divides and de facto segregation that prevents students from working together. With a ratio of one college counselor to 3,500 students, students tend to remain oblivious to opportunities to further their education.  The high school drop-out rate in the area is an astounding 50 percent. Only 9 percent of high school students go on to receive Bachelor’s Degrees.

Some of the other challenges the Homestead children face include:

- Generation gaps and language barriers between the children and parents
- Increased levels of HIV/AIDS infections
- Alcoholism, predominantly in male parent
- Drug abuse, specifically marijuana and ecstasy
- Teenage pregnancy
- School dropouts
- Domestic and sexual abuse and violence
- Lack of motivation
- Undiagnosed ADHD, depression, anorexia nervosa and other syndromes related to overtly stressful living situations

In general, this community is culturally under-represented and under-served. However, studies done by local community assistance programs and our own experiences have shown that whatever exposure these children have had to the arts, they connect with it quickly. Popular and cultural music, dance and movies have become a primary means of escape, even if it is only temporary.

Overview
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Homestead Arts Camp, Florida
New York Area Programs
Project Africa
Fundraising Efforts, NYC

The ASTEP Art-in-Action Experience in Homestead happens during the months of June and July. June 1st - 29th: ASTEP volunteers work with 56 middle school students and 8 High school students (Group Leaders) to create new and socially-conscious performances and presentations that reflect their lives. July 6th - August 3rd: ASTEP volunteers work with High School students on the same endeavors. (Applicants should be willing to work collaboratively during the creation process.) What to expect as a volunteer: In a school district where the arts have been extremely limited, especially underserved areas such as Homestead, volunteers should expect to be working with students who have little to no background in the arts (outside of their previous experiences with ASTEP summer programs). ASTEP volunteers focus on modeling a communal way of working that reflects the importance of the individual within a community and the power of the community when its members are committed to its growth. Volunteers will live and work communally sharing living space, leadership responsibilities and teaching collaboratively in the classroom. All volunteer artists will teach in the specific art form that they are qualified in while providing support and guidance to the children both as an artist and as an individual. ASTEP’s volunteer positions almost always require one-to-one and group interaction with the children. Amenities: Meals, room and board are provided by ASTEP & EnFamilia. Though never luxurious, ASTEP, first and foremost, focuses on the safety of our volunteers while on-site. Housing is dormitory-style, more than one person to a room, and usually at a humble local hotel. Volunteers who choose to travel off-site will have to make their own arrangements for accommodation, travel and food. Sometimes, occasional trips to surrounding areas will be provided free of cost, but are not guaranteed. Transportation to and from Homestead is provided.