In recent years, national trends in programming for youths have moved towards creating positive models of development that foster strengths, rather than focusing on weaknesses or problems. This methodology for working with young people happens to be HAI's basic mission.

HAI's youth programming accomplishes this by using techniques that foster resiliency, (i.e. perseverance) such as interactive role-plays that develop skills for avoiding and coping with violent conflicts. Role-play techniques deal directly with risk factors for violence and take into account all of the social, economic and emotional issues that impact on a person's ability to deal with those risks.

HAI's role-play workshops also foster resiliency by providing opportunities in a safe atmosphere to practice avoidance of violence as opposed to simply hearing or talking about it.

"I appreciate the opportunities you guys provide for us teenagers growing up in a corrupt world. You give me something positive to do so I can stay out of trouble." Youth Participant

Youths who develop skills to avoid potentially violent situations in role-plays are going to be more confident to do so in real life and will have the resiliency to maintain these positive behaviors in the midst of inevitable challenges.

HAI facilitators and peer educators are trained to facilitate group dialogues by asking specific open-ended questions rather than lecturing. They are skilled in guiding and encouraging youth to use their own ideas, imaginations and experiences to find a way to avoid or resolve potentially volatile situations in a nonviolent manner. When solutions come from the youths themselves and not from a lecture they are much more likely to retain and use these techniques in their lives. HAI's workshops feed off the ideas, strengths and opinions of its students. One of the most frequent comments received from participants is how empowering it is to be asked their opinions and ideas and to see those ideas come to life in role-plays.

Over the past several decades, approaches have developed and changed nationally to address issues relating to youth such as drugs, violence, pregnancy, HIV, and truancy. In a speech given in 2000 on "Healthy Youth Development", Dr. Robert Blum, Chair of the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, reviewing decades of evolving trends, stated that knowledge based interventions alone, "did not have any major kind of impact." If young people are given the appropriate information about drugs they would not use them. Knowledge alone was not enough. In the 1970's, one focus shifted toward scare tactics, as illustrated in the documentary film “Scared Straight,” where a group of juvenile delinquents were brought into a prison to be scared away from engaging in criminal behavior. Studies showed that, "…those who got the intervention were far more likely to participate in those criminal behaviors and wind up in prison," according to Dr. Blum.

Since its inception in 1969, HAI's philosophy of healing is to focus on people's strengths. The creation of HAI's youth development programming over 15 years ago was a natural extension of this. This type of youth development is particularly important when working with those who are faced with poverty, marginalization and powerlessness. Therefore, the key is to bring to the forefront someone's abilities, then strengthen and develop these abilities so that they may possess hope, and persevere on through these obstacles.

"This project has shaken me a lot, gotten a lot of toxins out of me and cleared my lungs -- emotionally -- things that I have suppressed myself and my feelings about certain issues that I have not taken care of. We have to take care of old baggage and not push it aside. It’s like I was choking and I’ve been shaken out of my throat. I feel a lot better." Respect Project Participant