By: Andy Kozlowski | Madison-Park News | Published July 15, 2024
HAZEL PARK — Hazel Park Youth Assistance started more than 70 years ago. Since then, it has become part of the Oakland County Circuit Court, leading to youth assistance offices in every school district across the county.
Yet despite its history, HPYA only recently achieved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, which means that all donations to the group are now tax deductible.
This year is the first season that HPYA will be able to fully leverage that fundraising advantage while continuing its important work of keeping kids on the right path with programs and counseling that reduce truancy and promote successful habits. The group also diverts juvenile offenders out of the legal system so that they can redeem themselves without a court appearance or jail time.
For the 2024-25 school year, caseworker Amy Sullivan will leave for another school district. It is part of a routine rotation that youth assistance groups do to give their caseworkers more perspective and experience. She will be replaced by a new caseworker, Paul Tiseo.
“(Sullivan) was always engaged and willing to help,” said Steve Morton, the vice-chair of HPYA. “She was just a super-friendly face who was accessible to all.”
Like Sullivan, Tiseo will provide confidential short-term counseling to students and their families, at no cost to them. He will also work with HPYA’s volunteer committees to help arrange family activities and enrichment activities, such as day camps.
One upcoming program is Family Fun Day, set to take place at Scout-McPherson Park, located at 901 E. Otis Ave., from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10. Morton said there will be all sorts of fun activities, including a bubble station where attendees can use special lassos to create enormous soap bubbles the size of beach balls.
Other HPYA events throughout the year include holiday traditions such as an Easter egg hunt and Christmas luncheon with Santa, a “Grinchmas” gathering around the holidays with a costumed Grinch, and a winter clothing shopping spree with local heroes including police, firefighters and military veterans.
Other events under consideration include a rock hunt with stones painted by high school students and hidden around town by volunteers, which can then be found and redeemed at the library for prizes, as well as participation in the Hometown Huddle, which kick offs each new school year during the first home football game at Hazel Park High School. HPYA also holds award ceremonies, including one that recognizes volunteers across the county, and another that gives scholarships to exceptional students.
Continual fundraising helps support the scholarships, which pay for attendance at skill-building camps ranging from band practice to sports training.
“The scholarships help subsidize the cost of these camps and clinics, which otherwise might be a bit excessive for some of our families,” Morton said.
Donations to HPYA can be made by mailing checks to Hazel Park 43rd District Court, 111 E. Nine Mile Road, with checks made out to Hazel Park Youth Assistance.
HPYA celebrated its 70th anniversary last year. It was the original youth assistance office in Oakland County, founded in 1953 by Judge Eugene Moore and Wilfred Webb, then the superintendent of the Hazel Park Public Schools. The two men wanted to find a way to address the emotional, social and behavioral problems many students were facing. Just five years later, their model had proven so successful that the program had already spread to another six districts. By the 1980s, there was a youth assistance office in every district in Oakland County. There are now 26 in 2024.
Morton said that today’s youth face challenges unique to our time, including social media pressures and the legalization and greater acceptance of certain types of drugs. Regarding social media, he said there is a risk of low self-esteem resulting from kids’ exposure to cyberbullying and envy derived from depictions of other people’s lives. As for drugs, the legalization of marijuana, its greater accessibility and the normalization of habits such as vaping has put kids at risk of substance abuse, he said.
“We want to educate students about these vices and raise awareness about the harms,” Morton said. “We’re also concerned about social isolation, where kids coming out of COVID find it hard to socialize again. Our goal is to get kids off their computer screens and phones and get them involved in beneficial activities for themselves and their communities.”
He said the group can always use volunteers to help with fundraising and planning new events. HPYA meets the third Tuesday of every month at the Hazel Park Recreation Center, 620 W. Woodward Heights Blvd., next to Green Acres Park.
Hazel Park City Councilman Andy LeCureaux is the chairman of HYPA. He said that the group touches lives in many ways, from community events that create bonding time for families, to the positive role models that students meet at events such as the shopping spree with first responders and veterans.
He said the Youth Recognition event also has a big impact.
“Sometimes, just being recognized by adults for something positive that they did can make a big difference in the children’s lives,” LeCureaux said. “At first, they might think they didn’t do much, but then they think, ‘Wow, someone did notice!’ And the effect of that recognition and that support, it multiplies. When you help one child, it has a positive effect on the rest of the community around them.”