January 16, 2025

Our young people enjoyed a dinner in celebration of the Kwanzaa holiday thanks to a committee led by youth care worker Marteze Harris. Our young people and coworkers enjoyed a meal of African stew, fried catfish, rice, and okra courtesy of our kitchen staff.  

Mercy Home’s Director of Milieu Training and Spiritual/Cultural Development Marc Velasquez noted that cultural celebrations like this one and others throughout the year do more than merely reflect our young people’s own cultural experiences and identities back to them.  

“We want (our young people) to be able to see themselves and celebrate their identities,” Velasquez said, but added, “there’s a lot of worth in being able to see how others celebrate too.”  

Velasquez said that learning about the ways that others celebrate aspects of their cultural identities encourages other youth to think about what’s important to them as well and even promotes self-acceptance.  

But experiences like these can also broaden our young people’s outward perspectives as well and prepare them for the diverse society in which they will build their futures. 

We hope our African American youth gain a sense of identity and purpose,” said Harris. “And for all other youth … I hope they learn that we live in a diverse world and [that] learning about the different cultures that encompass the world in which we now live is a life experience that they can take with them for the rest of their lives.”  

Kwanzaa, an annual seven-night celebration of African American and Pan-African culture, history, and values, is based on African harvest festival traditions from various parts of West, East, and Southeast Africa. The Kwanzaa principles, according to Harris, can be applied to our young people’s everyday lives, regardless of their identities.   

“When we expand these kids’ worlds, we’re encouraging growth,” Velasquez said. “The world is bigger than what I know, my neighborhood and my experience.”  

The program combined learning with a fun group activity. A special trivia competition allowed  our young people to gather, learn, and spend time with each other.  

“Kwanzaa is about uplifting our community,” Harris said. “It’s about bringing families together and being in a culture of love and just enjoyment of each other.”  

While Kwanzaa was the focus of the celebration, traditions and rituals are an important aspect of Mercy Home’s overall therapeutic environment. We are intentional about building a place where our young people feel comfortable sharing pieces of their identity with others.  

“Growth happens in safety and that growth and learning happen in a safe space,” Velasquez said. “And we create a safe space by creating routines.” 

Rituals can be a form of helpful routine and incorporating them can be an important component to encouraging that growth environment.  

“There are simple rituals, such as having playlists during chore time,” Velasquez said, “but also bigger rituals like identity rituals. ‘This is who I am.’ ‘This is my culture.’ Or ‘this is someone else’s culture that I’m getting to learn more about.’” 

Thank you to all our coworkers who gave our young people a fun, educational experience.