What is the CHEETA Project?
The Community Hope through Education Empowerment Training and Action (CHEETA) Project is a youth empowerment program of the Portland Housing Authority (PHA) Portland, Maine. It is a leadership and community building program that was created and developed by the youth who serve as its members & staff.
CHEETA started as a series of workshops in summer of 2010 and opened a teen drop-in center for youth 13-18 years old in Riverton Park in 2011. In summer of 2013 the program expanded to Sagamore Village, Kennedy Park, and Front Street with workshops to develop youth leadership opportunities in those neighborhoods. With the expansion of the program under the auspices of the Portland Housing Authority, the CHEETA project now operates through the PHA Study Centers with an emphasis on summer programming & engagement.
CHEETA started as a series of workshops in summer of 2010 and opened a teen drop-in center for youth 13-18 years old in Riverton Park in 2011. In summer of 2013 the program expanded to Sagamore Village, Kennedy Park, and Front Street with workshops to develop youth leadership opportunities in those neighborhoods. With the expansion of the program under the auspices of the Portland Housing Authority, the CHEETA project now operates through the PHA Study Centers with an emphasis on summer programming & engagement.
Who We Serve
CHEETA works primarily with multicultural teens living in or around Portland public housing. Focusing on the issues of social justice and conflict transformation, teens from all of Portland’s diverse youth come together to plan and implement change in their community.
Our Mission
The CHEETA Project is a youth-designed youth-led program. We seek to promote social justice and equality and celebrate diversity by providing service learning projects and action oriented games, classes, and workshops. We believe that promoting critical reflection and dialogue between youth and their community helps to foster leadership skills, gets youth to take charge of their education and experiences, and fosters new resourceful ways of engaging change.
Our Origins
The CHEETA Project was first developed in 2009 by the Program Director Katherine Stitham as a pilot Project titled the Cultural Heritage Education and Empowerment Through the Arts (CHEETA) Project. This project was designed as a series of leadership workshops for refugee and immigrant youth which would culminate in a project proposal of the students’ making for a future program that was a direct response to their understanding of the community’s needs.
Operated over the summer of 2010 with support from the Alliance for Responsible Communities and the Portland Housing Authority, the CHEETA Project worked with 27 middle and high school students to develop a community needs assessment and to discuss topics such as the environment and sustainability, peace education, community and identity, equality and justice, human rights, and conflict resolution.
At the end of the summer, four students took on leadership roles in the program and helped to implement the program outlined by the group.
Operated over the summer of 2010 with support from the Alliance for Responsible Communities and the Portland Housing Authority, the CHEETA Project worked with 27 middle and high school students to develop a community needs assessment and to discuss topics such as the environment and sustainability, peace education, community and identity, equality and justice, human rights, and conflict resolution.
At the end of the summer, four students took on leadership roles in the program and helped to implement the program outlined by the group.
