Newport News, Virginia
Leon Sankofa, Sr., MSW, Executive Director

Family and Youth Foundations is a for-profit and a charitable, not-for-profit, community and youth development agency whose mission is to provide an array of services that are geared towards strengthening the basic unit of society-the family. With this overall goal, specific services range from informing and educating persons of the effects of childhood sexual abuse to providing intense counseling and rehabilitation services for those in need. Based in Newport News, Virginia and directed by Leon Sankofa, Sr. MSW, Family and Youth Foundation has been involved in the area of sexual abuse prevention, education, and awareness on local and statewide levels. Additionally, under the leadership of Leon Sankofa, the organization has made strides in community attachment and awareness as it has aligned itself with local community centers, school systems, and other community-serving agencies with similar missions. The agency deals with specific areas that impact (directly or indirectly) on the family unit in an attempt to bolster personal affective skills for self-sufficiency and success. To this end, the agency does not attempt to solve situations and problems for individuals and families, but it does attempt to facilitate solution-oriented programming to help families and individuals counteract their own personal situations. The overall vision of Family and Youth Foundations is to make the community more aware of issues that are pertinent to familial stability, growth, and productivity. And to accomplish this, Family and Youth Foundations offers services in the following four areas:

• Community outreach through dramatic interpretation and discussion.

• Training and education

• Product and curriculum development

• Collaborative initiatives and projects