Good Day, my name is Veleta Brown MRICS MAPM MSC MSC PMP PGCE BA(Hons), I am the owner of Kebra Properties and a founding board member of Elevate The Youth CIC. I am a IT and Construction Project Manager and a Charted Surveyor.
Elevate The Youth CIC is a not-for-profit organisation that was formed in 2017 and following 2 years of research to tailor the service to the needs of young people aged 11-24. This led to the creation of our Root Cause Active Therapy Mentoring and our Construction and Built Environment awareness and career support services.
The company was created from my passion to give back having experience the tragic murder of my father at 4 years old. This led to me being very angry and this was only exasperated when my mother has a nervous breakdown when I was 11 years old. This led to me displaying challenging and aggressive behaviour at school, which consequently led to me being excluded 11 times in 2 years though I was a top set student. Knowing that my behaviour was not due to school but a outward expression of the hurt and trauma I was suffering in my home life. Following years of caring for my mother I then as a vulnerable young girl got in with the wrong crowd, this led to me being arrested for minor offences. My mother would often be sectioned which meant social services were active in our lives and would check on us daily.
I then started dating an older guy and found myself pregnant at 19. At this time my mom had another of her episodes and she kicked me out. I was in a homeless DV shelter with my little brother who has mild cerebral palsy. 3 months after giving birth I got offered a property and that was the turning point in my life. I decided I would make a change for mine and as many children's future as possible. The drive and motivation is therefore to provide the support and guidance I wish I had but wasn't available during my childhood. Experiencing adversity and transforming to positivity are the common traits in all our members, and this drives our passion for making a change for future generations.
Elevate the Youth CIC works with West Midlands Police (VRU and Community Outreach), Children's Services, a range of education provider and other support service provider to deliver our services in educational settings and in the community. The effectiveness and success of our services and the feedback on the main barriers faced by our young people, combined with my passion for construction and property led to the creation of Kebra Properties Ltd which is a run as a social enterprise. We aim to become of on the best semi independent providers for Care Leaver aged 16+. We will deliver the best levels of support as well as high quality accommodation, to provide our young people with an environment where they can learn, thrive and grow. Resulting in them being physically, mentally and emotionally equip to lead successful lives and careers and build positive relationships.
We have recently secured our first 4 bedroom, 2 reception roomed property and we have commenced the process of transforming it into a home for up to 4 young people.
Space 2 Elevate aims to be the go to service where young people can address and overcome their trauma and other support requirements in a safe way. Our 1-2-1 and group support and workshops will enable young people to build positive and healthy relationships with support staff, family (where applicable), their peers and their tutors. We aim to 'flip the script' (change the narrative) and provide the opportunity for our young people to have positive experiences that they may have missed out on as a result of being in care.
We endeavour to provide a high quality, young person centred service that enables our young people to achieve the same outcomes as their counterparts who have not been part of the care system. We will support our young people to overcome; childhood trauma, mental health issues, risk of exploitation (sex, county lines etc), substance abuse and reoffending whilst increasing their engagement with education, self employment and employment. This is done by creating an a personal and career development plan which includes agreed targets and incentives (rewards) chosen by our young people, given when targets are achieved.
We believe community is unity so with your help we will improve the quality of our accommodation, and the features requires to provide the safe place for our young people to elevate. Monies raised will be used to create a workspace designed by young people for sessions and workshops, to redecorate the rooms and provide homely living spaces. It will also be utilised to provide in house ICT equipment and to treat young people to activities and experiences that will enhance their support and allow them to enjoy activities (sports, music etc) that their peers get the chance to enjoy
Thank you for taking the time to read, please contribute and together we can make a positive difference to the elevation of the future generation.