Doc Wayne Youth Services, a Mass.-based nonprofit that fuses sport and therapy to heal and strengthen youth, has been selected as a 2015 winner of the inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Sports Award. Other winners in this elite group include Tony Hawk Foundation and Chicago Fire Foundation. Doc Wayne Youth Services and the other winners will each receive a $5,000 award and will be honored at a Sept. 10, 2015 ceremony at RWJF headquarters in Princeton, N.J.
Doc Wayne Youth Services was awarded this honor for its innovative and influential approach to using sports to build a Culture of Health in its community. The Sports Award builds on the former Steve Patterson Award for Excellence in Sports Philanthropy, presented by the RWJF for the past decade by placing a greater emphasis on collaboration across communities and sectors to foster a Culture of Health, the Foundation's core vision.
"We congratulate our three winning organizations," said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, President and CEO of RWJF, "for their dedication to building a Culture of Health and their passion for giving back to their communities. Their creative approaches to using sports to help people of all ages grow and stay healthy will help their communities thrive now and for generations to come."
"We see the positive results of our work each day on the playing field or in the gym, but this incredible honor further validates the efficacy of our approach and the impact we have on the youth in our community," said David Cohen, executive director of Doc Wayne Youth Services. "We hope that this endorsement of our work will help broaden the reach of our organization and help us to impact the lives of even more youth through the power of sport, helping them find their positive path."
Doc Wayne Youth Services – Influential Leader and Model for Others Making Communities Healthier Through Sport Category Winner
Doc Wayne Youth Services fuses sport and therapy to heal and strengthen youth. The organization works primarily with low-income youth suffering from a variety of mental health challenges largely caused by exposure to complex trauma including neglect, abuse, violent crime and sexual trafficking. Doc Wayne Youth Services' sports-based intervention incorporates principles from trauma-informed care and positive youth development. Doc Wayne Youth Services reached 500 youth last year through two trauma-informed interventions. Doc Wayne's interventions are provided within housing developments, schools, and residential programs, most often in Boston and eastern Massachusetts. These innovative programs service children who do not have access to, or are resistant to, therapy. Youth have been seen running towards their therapy sessions, eager to begin. Doc Wayne Youth Services' vision for engaging, high quality, evidence-based mental health interventions is game changing.
Childhood trauma linked to higher rates of somatic symptoms, study finds