Project Potential -- The Link -- building supportive communities for youth

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Project Potential

Project Potential offers intensive one-on-one case management and group support to youth ages 10 through 17 that are at high risk of delinquency and school drop out.

In addition, Project Potential provides educational advocacy (tutoring), Health Realization training (support groups) and role modeling (mentoring).

The goal of Project Potential is to reconnect youth to their positive behaviors through individualized advocacy services in Minneapolis' most economically disadvantaged schools and neighborhoods.

Project Potential also has two special initiatives:

Click on box for more info. [pdf]

Project Potential reduces criminal activity among low-level juvenile offenders, and increases school attendance for chronically truant students.

We assist youth in improving school attendance and behavior by showing them their own potential and assets, advocating on their behalf, supporting their families and strengthening community connections through group activities.

In 2007,

Project Potential served 444 youth from 92 schools.
77% of Project Potential clients improved attendance at school.
86% of clients who were not enrolled in a school at intake became enrolled in an appropriate school.
78% of Project Potential clients improved their behavior at home and at school.
86% of youth developed positive relationships with peers, and 90% of youth developed positive relationships with adult role models.

Hennepin County is a sponsoring agency of Project Potential.

My Story

Project Potential
On a warm and humid summer morning, six teenage boys and two staff members headed out of Minneapolis up Highway 35 to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA). For some of these teens this was their first time leaving Minneapolis. These boys would spend the next four days canoeing the BWCA learning how they individually could handle difficult situations.

One night as the group was about to set up camp for the evening, the island they intended to make home for the night was full. The boys were frustrated and angry. That anger grew as they continued on to the next camp site, and it was full. The group canoed for three hours stopping at eight sites before they found an empty one. The kids let go of their anger and without complaint, they each found their place in setting up camp for the night. This example of growth was just one highlight as the teens grew personally with a better understanding that they could deal with stresses of life through their own determination.

Hennepin County is a sponsoring agency of Project Potential.