YouthCARE

Mission

YouthCARE (Youth for Cultural Appreciation & Racial Equality) is a Twin Cities based nonprofit organization with a successful 32 year history of directing leadership development, multi-cultural, and educational programs and services for urban youth, 7-18 years old. All YouthCARE programs have a strong emphasis in:Helping youth develop the skills necessary to live and work in a multicultural community. Encouraging understanding, respect, and appreciation for self and others. Helping youth make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. Providing opportunities for disadvantaged youth and youth of color to gain leadership skills. YouthCARE programs address the underlying causes of pressing social problems such as the lack of positive activities for youth, the need to bridge racial and cultural gaps, overcoming gender barriers and the need youth have for consistent relationships with caring adults.

Programs

The Young Women's Mentoring Program focuses on facilitating opportunities for young women to build leadership and self-sufficiency skills as they mentor younger girls who live in their same low-income publicly subsidized neighborhoods. The program provides 12 young women, 14-18 years old, with a 12-month employment and leadership experience and 160-180 girls, 7-13 years old, with consistent and long-term positive after-school, weekend, and summer educational, cultural, and recreational activities. Through the Young Women's Mentoring Program, young women receive meaningful and challenging jobs and become leaders in their communities. Because youth mentors live in the communities in which they work, the younger girls see young women of color who live in their neighborhood as successful leaders and role models.Camp Sunrise, situated on the St. Croix River (about an hour north of the Twin Cities), is a year-round outdoor education program focused on bringing together urban youth, 13-18 years old, from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds, to live and work in an outdoor multicultural community. All youth attend camp free of charge because the great majority of participants would not otherwise have the economic means to pay the cost of enrollment. Because many participants paddle a canoe or sleep in a tent for the first time at Camp Sunrise, youth learn to push themselves to succeed in new and exciting ways. This unique environment helps make it easier for youth to build friendships across cultures as well as to benefit from the employment training, teambuilding, outdoor and environmental education, and service projects that Camp Sunrise offers. YouthLEAD (Youth Leadership and Diversity) operates during the school year and provides a link between the community built at Camp Sunrise and the participant's home communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul. YouthLEAD works hard to provide follow up services to Camp Sunrise alumni, maintain the multicultural friendships that were built at camp, and involve new youth through monthly social and recreational activities. In this way, YouthCARE's impact is not only deep, but also long-lasting. YouthLEAD also facilitates the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), Youth SpeakOuts (youth-led community discussions) and Employment Training Seminars that offer opportunities for low-income youth to further develop their leadership and problem-solving skills.