African American Youth Harvest Foundation

What's New

AAYHF continues to provide services to entire families with a goal of promoting positive, holistic youth development in every household, in order to ensure the on-track or accelerated advancement of children and youth toward optimal educational, health, workforce and life outcomes. Existing programs include: Mentoring, Workforce Assistance, Youth Conferences, STEM/IT programs, Parent Programs, and Urban University Summer Camp.

SinceJanuary 2019, St. David's Foundation has supported the planning of AAYHF's new “Cradle to Contributor” (C2C) early childhood strategy to target and form relationships with families at the point of conception, in order to assist in stabilizing families early in a child’s development and walk alongside families to ensure the proper conditions exist in every household to nurture the positive, on-time or accelerated development of children and youth who would otherwise experience a disproportionately high level of adverse environmental conditions that could negatively influence their personal outlook, approach to learning, and access to opportunities that can increase their chances of success in attaining ideal quality of life outcomes. You can access the FULL or SUMMARY Early Childhood Report AAYHF created with St. David's support at https://aayhf.org/reports/

Other new and exciting partnerships starting in 2018 have included Black Women/Men In Business, Austin Achieve Public Schools, Oracle, Esolvit, CapMetro, Samsung, and the National CARES Mentoring Movement founded and directed by Susan L. Taylor, Editor-in-Chief Emerita of Essence Magazine. With support from A Glimmer of Hope, the Austin CARES Mentoring Inititative has a goal of recruiting 100 mentors by August 2020. In addition to A Glimmer of Hope, other long-time partners have included the City of Austin, Travis County, Dell, Central Health, Hoover's, Frost Bank, Huston-Tillotson University, Austin Cops for Charities, HEB, Diakonos Ministries, and others.

Mission Statement

The mission of the African American Youth Harvest Foundation (AAYHF) is to intentionally provide hands-on service through school and community-based programs, to enhance quality of life for African American youth and families. AAYHF started with the launch of youth conferences in June 2006 and was officially formed in June 2007. In 2011, AAYHF opened the African American Youth Resource Center (AAYRC) to serve as a one-stop community resource offering a range of educational, health and social services at no cost to youth and families.

Needs Statement

Currently, AAYHF clients' average reported family size is 4 in the household, and the median household income is $24,250. Approximately 95% of our clients are African American and/or Hispanic, and many live in zip codes including, but not limited to: 78702, 78721, 78723, 78724, 78425, 78744, 78745, 78752 and 78754. Many also now come to the AAYRC from areas such as Pflugerville and Manor, where the African American populations are growing as a percentage. AAYHF also serves a large percentage of children, youth and families who face significant barriers to achieving improved quality of life, such as un- or under-employment, lack of transportation, no insurance, lack of child care options, and/or lack of access to broadband technology connections. Virtually 100% of AAYHF clients are members of historically disadvantaged populations, whether due to racial/ethnic background or low-income status.

Of AAYHF clients served at community events, 58% of participants indicated interest in AAYRC youth and adult services, but we are unable to follow up with all of these, as we need support for program coordinators to mobilize volunteers and partner more effectively to meet the need.