Creating Supportive Paths
Within The PATHfinder Club students build a community without the fear of being stigmatized. Students express themselves through art and writing and find support among their peers and community members. Members learn to better express themselves within a supportive community, to recognize their own needs, and to expand their resilience. The PATHfinder Club cultivates an inclusive space for youth who have been stigmatized and silenced by their experiences with the criminal justice system and other systems. Our clubs build positive self-identity through peer and adult support and understanding fostered by shared experiences. We empower youth to explore their fullest potential by creating community and encouraging self-expression.
Our Clubs
- Venice High School – Los Angeles, CA
- Los Angeles High School for the Arts – Los Angeles, CA
- El Camino Real Charter High School – Woodland Hills, CA
- Culver City High School – Culver City, CA
- Lawndale High School – Lawndale, CA
- New Village Girls Academy – Los Angeles, CA
- Urban Assembly of Bronx Academy of Letters – Bronx, NY
- Parkrose High School- Portland, OR
- ELVTD Youth and Mentoring – LaGrange, GA
- Center for Family Success – Portland, OR
- Multnomah County Juvenile Detention Center – Portland, OR
Empowerment Through Community
The PATHfinder Club heals and nourishes by each session providing a space and a meal or snack where members develop an authentic community that respects and strengthens individual and collective voices. Breaking bread together breaks down barriers and is a binding agent of the TPC experience. The unofficial motto is: First We Eat.
Participation is a Choice
We welcome anyone who wishes to join The PATHfinder Club community. There is no judgment of—or expectation to– divulge one’s personal connection to incarceration, detention or deportation. Youth choose how they want to engage in Club activities.
Creative Expression Transforms
We employ evidence-based social emotional learning practices shown to be healing and transformative. Our clubs encourage mindfulness and creative expression and opportunities for sharing through publication and performance, including an annual anthology of their work that we proudly share with the world.
We Believe in Transformation
We transform shame, stigma, hurt and harm into hope and healing. PATHfinder Club youth are breaking down systemic barriers in their minds, schools, and communities. The youth of The PATHfinder Club express themselves powerfully about the impact the Club has had on their lives, and members often return, again and again because as so many of them say, “The PATHfinder Club is family.”
Social-Emotional Learning
The PATHfinder Club’s social-emotional learning approach offers significant benefits for youth who have faced such challenging circumstances that promote positive development. By integrating arts-based activities, the club can provide a creative outlet for self-expression and emotional processing, which is crucial for healing and growth. Social-emotional learning helps youth develop essential life skills that protect them from potential risk and increases their strengths and resilience. When combined with the arts, which can be both therapeutic and empowering, it creates a supportive environment where young people can explore their emotions, build resilience, and connect with others in meaningful ways.
Get Started
Want to bring The PATHfinder Club to your community? We offer a customizable suite of tools and resources to support each partner agency’s implementation and effective delivery of the model.
Get Involved
Have questions? Want to get involved? Let’s connect! Click the button below to learn more about how you can connect with our work.
Support Our Work
Make a donation to The Pathfinder Network and help us provide support for systems-impacted individuals, youth, and families.