Youth Achievers USA Institute

Our overarching goal is to increase the value of American children, particularly children in historically disadvantaged families categorized and valued as "minorities." An intentional, pro-social goal to increase the net worth of American children in 100 low income families to $50,000 over a 10 year period. ($5,000,000) presents an opportunity for evaluating a myriad of related threats in the American homeland. Research is clear that poverty is the single greatest threat to children's well-being.
The J.D. and Laurena Walker Fund approaches this economic security threat from a community reinvestment perspective. The poor can stop being poor if the rich are willing to become richer at a slower pace. The development program establishes an accessible grant-making source to aid low income Americans in addressing local community needs. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, more than 16 million children in the United States - 22% of all children - live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level - $23,550 a year for a family of four. Children under 18 years represent 23 percent of the population, but they comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Among all children, 44 percent live in low-income families and approximately one in every five (22 percent) live in poor families. Being a child in a low-income or poor family does not happen by chance. Parental education and employment, race/ethnicity, and other factors are associated with children experiencing economic insecurity. Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet. Poverty can impede children's ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty.

YouthUSA promotes increased knowledge of financial responsibility among caring adult stakeholders through financial literacy. We offer an easily accessible online version of FDIC Money-Smart Financial Literacy. Our youth beneficiaries are encouraged to engage caring adults in completing the financial literacy training. A financial incentives modeled from Individual Development Accounts promote saving as a new social norm for economically disadvantaged citizens. Increased investment in youth through intentional, prosocial economic development presents ways and means for modeling replicable grassroots community reinvestment..

YouthUSA has established itself as an economic beneficiary with existing assets to implement its vision for asset building among disadvantaged Americans. Our proprietary capacity building program, THE ANNUAL YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS connects 20 caring adults to one American youth age 7-24. Partnerships with FDIC to deliver financial literacy and with Microsoft to connect disadvantaged Americans with access to opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math promote a unique model for engaging low income citizens in grassroots community reinvestment.

Since 9-11-2006, YouthUSA has provided corporate support to a network of beneficiaries. Since 1996, 92 of 100 beneficiaries have been qualified through THE ANNUAL YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS, a proprietary circular capacity building program. Each beneficiary qualifies a "whole village" of 20 caring adults for philanthropic support available to YouthUSA. The charity currently addresses poverty issues through shared work and responsibility, threats to economic security through intentional. pro-social community re-investment, and holistic achievement through self-actualization. Since 2008, the charity has generated nearly Youtube 50,000 video views, published more than 50 youth-related news articles, produced and aired 23 radio programs and provided capacity-building assistance in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Ohio.