I first met Yocasta Jimemez, KMSW (better known in the community as Yogi) when she put together a Small Business Pop-Up Shop in the Galleria Mall to help promote small Black and Brown businesses for Black History Month. I invited her on our radio show, People Before Politics Radio to discuss it and immediately knew I wanted her to be one of the Westchester Women, we would spotlight in our March 2021 Women’s Month Issue.
Ms. Yogi is also known as The Hip-Hop Therapist. She is the President and Founder of Teens Under Construction, Inc. (TUC) She believes in incorporating Hip-Hop Culture into TUC to unite our community through cultural communication which helps provide youth engagement and educational growth.
TUC is a mentoring and counseling organization, serving at-risk youth ages 15-24. Ms. Yogi has a passion for the work she does. She loves working with young people and educating people about effective ways to engage youth to provide them with the ability to obtain success.
As a teen mom and high school dropout, she personally knows the difficulties associated with being an at-risk youth. Her experiences has afforded her the ability to reach the youth in unique ways by incorporating music and other urban tools.
“My love for the work and the teens has demonstrated success as we currently have over 20 clients in different colleges and trade programs,” Ms. Yogi shared with Black Westchester. “Within the next 2 years. we hope to extend our services to an independent living program where we will have the ability to house displaced youth and/or youth that have aged out of care in addition to providing initial services.”
After the first 2 years, she hopes to maintain the position of executive director and continue to influence the culture of the business. It is extremely important to her that the youth continue to be the organization’s focus and that it never loses a culture of acceptance, understanding, and nurturing.
“I have chosen this because I see the needs in many communities,” she continued. “I have personal experiences that have led me to want to improve the quality of life of others. Through my experiences as a licensed social worker, I have had the ability to complete research that has proven that despite the trauma and other negative life-changing factors, an individual can prove to be successful after encountering nurturing, loving of supportive people in their life. It could have been a teacher, counselor, friend, mate or any other form of support and empathy. At TUC we serve as that person and place of nurturing and support.
She started TUC in 2014 (the same year Black Westchester was created) but the idea had been brewing since she was 13 after a stint in juvenile detention where they were treated poorly. Yocasta is a survivor and is proof you do not have to allow your past to define you.
She is the epitome of the bible verse, 2 Corinthians 4:8:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed,” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 perfectly epitomizes her life.
She has been broke but never broken, she was homeless and incarcerated. “I was a fighter,” she shares. She had a lot of anger and her family frequently frowned on her behavior and she was often left out of family events. She was a teen mom and a high school dropout but that is not the end of her story, she is also a Fordham University graduate. Now she uses her experiences to reach the youth, letting them know she understands where they are because she has been there. She got a second chance to make something of herself and now she pays it forward, dedicating her life to at-risk youth who many have given up on, letting them know they are not alone. She is there for them. TUC has allowed her and others to offer various programs, music production CPR, a Drop-in center where food and workshops were provided, fashion/shopping days, bubble soccer at Galleria Day, the TRUTH Program (Teens Recounstucting Under True Hip-Hop) where she provides social-emotional learning to youth in group homes and incarcerated.
“I got my GED, enrolled in Westchester Community College and dropped out like 4 times. The 4th time was the charm. I figured things out, made it to Fordham and I graduated top of my class. Now I am a LMSW. Through my struggles, I triumphed and now I’m here to help our youth do the same,” she shares with Black Westchester.
She also offers a 6-week Hip-Hop Therapy curriculum and how it can be implemented in other institutions and organizations. TUC offers Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) and Global Cultural Communication.
SEL is the process of developing the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success. People with strong social-emotional skills are better able to cope with everyday challenges and benefit academically, professionally, and socially. From effective problem-solving to self discipline, from impulse control to emotion management and more, SEL provides a foundation for positive, long-term effects on teens and young adults.
Global Cultural Communications: Hip-Hip is a global cultural communication style including the pillars of music, art, and dance. Slam poetry, beatbox, and beat making have become worldwide ways young people and adults use to express their thought, feelings, ideas, values, knowledge, and wisdom in urban, rural, suburban and other environments. Hip-hop music has served as a powerful voice and form of expression for young Black audiences and has evolved into a culture with its own language, style of dress, and mindset.
“We pride ourself on incorporating Hip-Hip Culture into our organization to engage youth and reinformece youth development and empowerment,” the Hip-Hop Therapist shared.
She could have easily allowed her past to be an excuse, but instead she used her combined experience to inspire the youth. She is truly an unsung hero, if you didn’t know now you know. Black Westchester salutes and proudly salutes and proudly celebrates and feature Yocasta Jimenez aka Ms. Yogi, The Hip-Hop Therapist.
This is Her-Story!
The article originally appeared in the March 15, 2021 Women’s Month Issue and is reposted because she is exactly the unsung shero Black Westchester had in mind to spotlight when it was created ten years ago. We also post today, Wednesday, August 7, 2024, in celebration of Ms. Yogi’s Birthday!
For more on Ms. Yogi and Teens Under Constriction visit their website and follow them on IG, Facebook, Twitter (X), YouTube, and LinkedIn.
