Youth Action Hudson

Youth Action Hudson (YAH) is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that believes the young people of the Hudson community are one of our biggest assets when it comes to serving others and shaping future generations. YAH has been a catalyst for starting new programs and partnering with other Hudson programs for over 30 years. Our mission is to empower and engage our youth volunteers to make a difference in the Hudson community through service, leadership and education.

Service: In 2019-2020, Youth Action Hudson had 88 youth volunteer for our programs, giving over 1,900 hours of time to support local community members through service, leadership, and education programming. Over 1,800 individuals attended YAH programs in 2019-2020, 12 service partnerships were developed with   supporting/collaborating with organizations or individuals in need through resources, materials, or volunteers. Over 10,000 community members were served by YAH projects. Thirty-three youth qualified for Presidential Volunteer Service Awards in 2019-2020. Youth Action Hudson is one of the few organizations that is certified through the Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). PVSA honors students for service hours that they complete throughout the year and their lifetime.

Leadership: Our Youth Advisory Board (YAB) guides all activities/ programs of Youth Action Hudson. Currently, the YAB is comprised of approximately 30+ actively involved Hudson High School students. YAB has provided students with the opportunity to develop and facilitate new programs while improving established programs. Programs that are currently youth led are; Community Food Drives, Teen Tech, Connecting Generations, Hudson Hands, All Dressed Up, Period Project, and the Rummage Sale, which are now designated as Youth Leadership Programs. These programs include 2 co-chairman and 2 sub-chairman allowing our youth more leadership opportunities and greater responsibilities.

Education: Our premier program which has the highest attendance and makes the largest impact on school age youth, is Peer-to-Peer. Teams of YAH youth create electronic and in-person presentations for 5th-8th students at all Hudson schools. Topics that are addressed are based on the need of the students. These topics include but aren’t limited to: stress and time management, diversity and inclusion, respect and self-esteem, and transition to High School. This program is held in the fall for 5th grade students and in the spring for 6th-8th grades. In the spring of 2019, 47 students participated and impacted 1412 6th-8th grade Hudson students. In the fall of 2019, 43 students participated and impacted 587 5th grade Hudson students. The students involved in the Peer-to-Peer programs demonstrate and continue to polish their leadership skills by creating these presentations and facilitating them in the classrooms. This year, the school is not able to have us come into the classrooms, so we are video taping presentations and submitting them to all school counselor teams and sharing them on social media and our website.