ATASK Receives

Boston Club Advancement Award

Each year, The Boston Club honors a community-based 501(c)3 organization that works to improve the lives of girls and women.  On June 3, 2016, at The Boston Club’s Community Salute, ATASK’s Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) received the 2016 Advancement Award.

YEP is a comprehensive, culturally competent program that trains Asian American youth on issues of domestic and dating violence, and inspires them to become agents of positive social change in their peer and cultural communities, and to change the culture of the next generation.  The program has been nationally acclaimed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a best practice model for Asian American youth.  The program was begun in 2009 in response to an observed need for a program that takes into account the many layers of oppression that impact the development of Asian American youth.  The YEP curriculum is designed to impart knowledge, shape the perspectives of Asian youth and develop a sense of empowerment.  The curriculum focuses on domestic violence, teen dating violence and active bystander intervention intersected with Asian American identity.

The Advancement Award will be used to support wider dissemination of the YEP curriculum.

Survivors Create a Song About Hope

Recently, shelter clients met with local musician Julia Mark to create their very own song. They wanted the world to know that life was getting better, and that they had hope for the future. They wanted the song to be uplifting and joyful. The result was a song entitled "All We Need" with a powerful message about love and hope. Click here to watch the video.

"All We Need" Lyrics

They're some things I've been dreaming of
I don't need a lot of stuff
And I've got a lot of life to live
I just need a lot of love
I've got a lot of love to give
So I'm gonna keep on looking up

Refrain:
Gonna put my worries on an outbound train
I've got this hope that I cannot contain
Your love is my umbrella when it starts to rain
When the storm has passed, only simple things remain
That's all I need today
All we need
Oh it's all we need

I've been dreaming of a place of my own
All those bad, bad days go on and leave me alone
And when the darkness starts to creep
And there's no respite in my sleep
I'm gonna keep on searching for the sun

Music + Lyrics by Julia Mark
www.juliamarkmusic.com