Multicultural
Education and Counseling Through the Arts 
1900 Kane Street
HoustonTX77007
713-802-9370713-802-9403
Program: Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts Year Started: 1979 Focus: Multidisciplinary Arts Youth Served: 3,300 Ages: 5-21 Budget: $451,000 With a view toward increasing the social and intellectual development of Houston's inner-city youth through the arts, Multicultural Education and Counseling Through the Arts (MECA) works in partnership with public schools to provide arts education year-round. The activities expose youth to the arts with in-school, after-school and summer programs. Classes in ethnic art forms include mariachi, Mexican ballet folklorico, international ballet folklorico and Afro-Caribbean dance. Classical instruction in voice, instruments, modern dance and jazz, ballet and theater is offered as well, with students practicing up to 6 hours per week. Fees for classes are waived for about 75 percent of the participants, who perform community service instead--cleaning the organization's central facility or schools, creating public murals and helping with mailings. The center follows the school schedule, but is open all summer as well. A large part of MECA's programming involves support services for students, which include tutoring, a mentoring program, assistance with college applications, scholarships and a girls club for junior and senior high school students, as well as social services through agencies with satellite offices in the center. "The strength of our program is the comprehensive support services we offer the children and the whole family," says Executive Director Alice Valdez. "If a child is having problems, we call in the whole family and get social service agencies involved." |