Youth Action Project

About Youth Action Project  

Started in 1998 as a youth-driven project to allow youth to identify the issues that mattered most to young people and to provide an avenue for them to develop plans to address those issues.

Youth Action Project (YAP) mission is to connect young people to opportunities that allow them to develop the skills and habits needed to experience economic and social success.

YAP has three primary service components designed to meet youth “where they are:” academic enhancement (Young Scholars), youth development (Young Leaders Inc), economic and community development (Young Workers).

Positive Peer Influence: @ YAP we have all kinds of people helping all kinds of people “one youth at a time” is how “we empower communities” Through Young Scholars YAPs aim is Academic Excellence = students read and compute math at their appropriate grade level.

Youth Popular Culture: @ YAP we maintain a working body of knowledge of the current youth culture “we know our target audience” Through Young Workers YAPs aims is Career Awareness = students have a career pathway plan based on their interest and talents informed by labor market information and are provided with practical ways to exploration career pathways.

Youth Involvement: @ YAP “nothing about me without me” is a guiding philosophy youth have an opportunity to sit at the decision making table. Through Young Leaders YAPs aim is Life Proficiency = student demonstrate leadership skills, and the ability to effectively engage their respective communities.

Quick Facts: Established: 1998; Incorporated in 2003; Obtained 501(c) 3 status 2007

Population served: YAP has redefined it's target population as "opportunity youth" and has adopted an asset based approach. We seek out the assets, the best that each young person has to offer, we help them identity their passion and harness new skills, while developing the habits needed to succeed in today's complex society. For YAP the demographic profile of "Opportunity Youth" is age 14 to 30, who the potential but lack the resources and support to overcome personal and systematic barriers to economic and social opportunities.

Major Initiative and Successes: • YAP awards over $50,000 in educational scholarship to local community members each year; YAP students provide local communities with over 30,000 community service hours each year.