The Youth Services Department provides Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community youth with enrichment and intervention services that Youth Program Manager Debra Apodaca said are served with care, compassion and cultural competence in a multidisciplinary team approach.

Two of the seven mentorship programs that Youth Services provides to Community-member boys and girls are the Hummingbird Mentorship Program for girls and the Hawk Mentorship Program for boys. They are for kids ages 10 to 12, in grades 5 and 6.

Both programs focus on four core components: culture, education, health and fitness, and social and life skills.

The most recent project that the Hummingbird mentees participated in was the Act of Kindness Project for the nurses at HHS–Journey to Recovery, a project that served as an introduction to the importance of community and civic engagement.

To thank the nurses for their services to the Community, Hummingbird mentees created personalized acrylic magnets for the nurses with a variety of designs and quotes related to nursing.

“The project was an eye-opener for most mentees and a great segue to formulating future Community-related projects,” said Youth Development Specialist Traci Nahsonhoya. “They were able to learn that becoming involved in civic events can benefit their futures as leaders, academically and their overall well-being.”

Hummingbird mentee Ivory C. hopes the mentees can participate in similar projects in the future.

“I had a lot of fun with the project and understand that it is important to take time to show our gratitude to the people that help our Community,” said Ivory.

Youth Development Specialist Amanda Robbins said that it was a great project for the kids.

“They were exposed to reaching out and understanding what the people do for their Community,” said Robbins.

During the second week of October, the program provided fall break activities for the Hummingbirds such as field trips, collaborations with other mentorship programs and culture/art sessions. The next Hummingbird Mentorship Program community service project is planned for December.

The boys in the Hawk Mentorship Program recently participated in an event called Make a Taco Salad.

“It was a really good cooking activity. It was the GOAT (greatest of all time),” said Hawk mentee Isaiah A.

The event aimed to help the boys develop essential cooking skills and learn to prepare a meal independently, which they could share with their families. It also covered important topics like sanitation and kitchen safety.

“We are excited to keep working together with HSS–Fitness, where the boys will be learning boxing,” said Apodaca. “We also have future sessions planned to explore spinning with Michelle Long.”