Jumpstart Semi-Independent Living Program for Boys is a program designed to help youth jumpstart their lives. Located in bustling and artistic Hyattsville, Maryland, this historic home provides a structured, rigorous, and goal-oriented program for young men ready to embark as independent, mature community members. The program is structured around giving young men the freedom to make positive and sound choices, develop a sense of responsibility, and take control of their lives. With professional staff providing 24-hour supervision and behavioral role modeling, this program provides the consistency and continuity that allows our young men to develop skills necessary to become productive, responsible, and engaged community members.

Jumpstart group home offers support for up to eight adolescent males between the ages of 17 and 20 years old from all parts of Maryland. Individuals typically reside in the home for nine to twelve months, and up to two years. Jumpstart provides the following benefits:

• Individual, family, and group therapy targeted to building a strong personal identity, pride, self-esteem and confidence
• Employability development and placement with potential career development
• Educational advocacy and support
• Case management, referral and coordination for health services, substance abuse treatment, family therapy, and additional necessary services
• Recreation and constructive use of leisure time
• Life skills training to support self-sufficiency

From the moment a new resident arrives, staff at Jumpstart work to get them into school or a job and help the residents find their voices. Jumpstart staff explain that the young men need to learn that they have a choice every day to invest in themselves, and that staff at Jumpstart are listening.

While the youth are discovering their voices and developing their sense of responsibility, the Program staff have observed that the young men also need inspiration to get out of the house. “The time spent in detention teaches the boys to stay inside, we want to get them out and reconnected with the community.”

Group activities, like basketball games, are a great way for the youth to get to know each other and develop a sense of community. When the group plays basketball together, they are having fun, seeing the program staff like family members, and respecting each other.

Another group activity that the young men love is cooking. Most of the residents who come to the home say that they do not know how to cook. The boys tend to trail behind Mike when he goes into the kitchen. When he starts cooking, the boys start asking questions. He casually explains what he’s doing and asks for their help getting some spices or rinsing the meat, walking them through his recipe. Often he makes it a comical experience, pretending they are putting on a cooking show, so the youth enjoy it and get engaged.

Usually the young men at Jumpstart are employed or in school, or both, within a month of entering the program. Throughout their time at Jumpstart, staff give the young men positive reinforcement and recognize their talents, to help the youth realize what they bring to the table and the possibilities that are available to them.

“All the kids want is for you to spend some time with them. When they act out they just want someone to listen and engage with them. Sometimes the boys run away from the family environment staff creates at Jumpstart because they are not used to it. They self-sabotage because they are afraid of recognizing that someone cares.”

Nevertheless, the Jumpstart program staff are dedicated every day to helping the young men realize they have a voice, they are respected, they are heard, and they are supported. The goal of the program is for each young man to achieve success, change, and confidence and leave the program as independent, productive young adults.

Today is the 98th anniversary of Harriet Tubman’s death in 1913. The date was designated as national Harriet Tubman Day in 1990.

As for many, Harriet Tubman is an inspiration for everyone at Hearts & Homes. In her memory, we opened the Harriet Tubman Emergency Shelter in a targeted attempt to reduce the number of African-American young men being incarcerated in a lock-up, lock-down, detention center (juvenile jail) when they pose no serious threat to the community while awaiting a court hearing.

The youth that are placed at the Harriet Tubman shelter are referred to us by the Department of Juvenile Services. Hundreds of young men from across the state, amounting to thousands of days, have stayed at our shelter where they have received residential and supportive services.

Consistently, after being placed in our care, most of the young men went home or to a community based program or facility like the group homes we operate. It is clear everyday that believing in these young men, giving them the tools create opportunities for themselves, and supporting them in a home-like environment rather than locking them up, helps them get themselves back on the right track.

We call the shelter our “Over Ground Railroad to Freedom,” even Justice.

Ours is a living tribute to Harriet Tubman’s legacy as we celebrate now and for years to come, her courage and self-sacrifice, which led thousands to freedom. Ours is to lead thousands of youth to the freedom perhaps otherwise denied to them; to learn, to grow, to mature, and to become responsible adult citizens of the community. Ours is to provide a safe, secure, and disciplined shelter home; an opportunity to realize their potential and dreams. Ours is to purposefully interrupt the first stop on the train to criminalization – incarceration prior to juvenile court hearings of those who are not a threat to the community. Ours is to put them on a train to a bright, productive future. Yours is to help us keep that train on the right track. Bless you, Rex Smith