For the past seven years ASTEP and EnFamilia have focused on empowering the children of Homestead, Florida through the arts and using it as a catalyst for education and awareness. To date the ASTEP/EnFamilia Art-In-Action Experience has affected the lives of over 60 professional artists and over 400 students.

The ASTEP/EnFamilia 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.

EnFamilia is 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/EnFamilia Art-in-Action Experience provides dance, drama, music, poetry, playwriting literature and visual art workshops for the children of Homestead during their summer break (June and July). These month-long intensive sessions start daily at 8:30 a.m. and end around 5 p.m. During this time, the students are able to work with our artist volunteers in a safe, supportive and inspiring environment. June is geared towards middle-school children ages 10-13 and July caters to high-school students ages 14-18.

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/EnFamilia Art-in-Action Experience is offered free of charge for the children and volunteers who participate.

Volunteer Story

A Day in the Life of a Homestead Volunteer

By Alejandro Rodriguez (ASTEP Volunteer 2007-present/3rd-yr Juilliard Actor)

"We start the day together. First thing in the morning, the entire community gathers in one space, students and volunteers alike, so that we can check in with each other and start the day on common ground. We shake off our sleepiness with some music and games, then we dive in. It's an incredible thing to be around so many people creating in one place -- a volunteer with a camera whizzes past you, filming a documentary. Upstairs, there's a music student practicing violin in the walkway. Another student is still, sketching a plant in the courtyard. At the end of the day, we come together again as a community to recap our days and record any new idea or interesting conversation we might have had, students maybe share some new creations with each other, and then we close it all off in one triumphant voice -- singing a song we all wrote together and one that, by the end of camp, everyone knows by Heart."

Impact Summary:

Since the program's inception in 2003, EnFamilia and ASTEP have partnered with 8 nonprofit organizations. In the past five years, 60 ASTEP volunteers have, alongside 45 local high school volunteers and over 60 family participants, contributed over 50,000 hours to the improving the community of Homestead. Over 50% of our students and volunteers return to the program every year. Our year-round Group Leadership program has mentored over 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
Shanti Bhavan, India
Homestead Arts Camp, Florida
New York Area Programs
Project Africa
Fundraising Efforts, NYC

The ASTEP/EnFamilia Art-in-Action Experience in Homestead happens during the months of June and July. Volunteer applications (found on our website) must be submitted no later than April 12th 2009. Applicants will be notified via phone or e-mail upon receipt of application and the interview/acceptance process will take place within two-three weeks post initial contact. Please Note: Applicants will be required to undergo formal training (in person or via phone/Skype) prior to the on-site training/emersion. Applicants should be prepared and willing to work collaboratively during the creation process being that every experience and the themes covered are unique to the individuals and students involved. May 31st – June 28th: ASTEP volunteers work with middle school students and several High school students (Group Leaders) to create new and socially-conscious performances and presentations that reflect upon their lives and community. July 5th – August 2nd: ASTEP volunteers work with High School students on the same endeavors. 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. Domestic transportation (airfare) to and from Homestead, Florida is provided.