Self-Government
Self-government was the educational approach at the heart of A Chance In Life's origins, more than seventy-six years ago. When Monsignor Carroll-Abbing served homeless children in Rome, he realized that children had become so accustomed to living on their own that they did not want to return to life controlled by authority figures. The challenges of keeping children in any kind of service organization inspired Monsignor to create a new way to relate to the young people – the model of self-government where children were the main responsible of running the programs, with the supervision of adults.
Positive Youth Development (PYD)
Over the years, A Chance In Life has expanded to almost all continents, working in collaboration with an increasing number of local organizations in the poorest areas of the world. The vision of the founder, and its approach centered on the child, has evolved from self-government to Positive Youth Development (PYD) and the inclusion of the global agenda 2030 with the Sustainable Development Goals into its new model.
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Positive Youth Development (PYD) is a developmental process where organizations working with children and youth focus on fostering a healthy and positive development. PYD emphasizes that development involves mutually influential relations between individuals and their contexts.
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PYD’s framework focuses on Five C’s
Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character, and Caring/Compassion (Lerner, et al, 2005), to ultimately achieve a Sixth C: Contribution to self, family, community, and to the institutions of a civil society. |
Our Focus Areas
Together with our Partners, we seek to reduce hunger (SDG2), offer healthcare services (SDG3), provide high quality education (SDG4), enhance the same opportunities for boys and girls (SDG5) and educate and promote ways to take care our planet (SDG13).
In 2022, our grants contribute towards the following Sustainable Development Goals:
