Drop-In


If it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to strengthen, stimulate and create healthy villages?

Originally a spin-off of our Block by Block program in 2018, Drop-in was created to offer fun, accessible, culturally-responsive, and trauma-informed programming, especially for systems-involved youth. Systems-involved youth include young people in foster care, juvenile court, and alternative schools. Drop-in provides a thoughtful and intentional but easy entry into Deep spaces and practices, without the immediate long-term commitment that other programs like the Young Author Project or Block by Block require. Furthermore, the program’s design and our paid staff’s expertise addresses the trauma young people might have experienced in traditional learning spaces. We meet young people where they are through the array of creative options that foster learning, build community, and develop skills, such as hair-braiding, entrepreneurship, music production, cooking, know-your-rights activism, and more. Our aim is to build love and trust with these young people, and direct them into our other programs to ensure their long-term support by the Deep Center community.

Drop-in youth at Frank Callen Boys and Girls Club

Countering the effects of historical and contemporary trauma in our communities.

Ask a child what they want and they will likely tell you their dreams are boundless and that they derive genuine excitement from planning their future. They believe they have a future of their own choosing. As boys and young men of color (BYMOC) get older, Deep’s research and experience shows that many lose the sense of the possible. The dehumanization they and their villages face makes hope and joy seem frivolous when survival is a daily challenge. If it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to strengthen, stimulate and create healthy villages? Drop-in works to support the dreams and wants of the young people Savannah is leaving behind, especially young boys and men of color, as well as the networks and relationships that surround boys and young men of color. Drop-in is designed to address and counter the effects of historical and contemporary trauma in our communities.