YOUTHCARE

1. Young people gain respect, understanding and appreciation for themselves and others
2. Young people develop leadership skills and have the opportunity to use them within YouthCARE and the broader community
3. Young people develop cultural competency skills needed to thrive in a multicultural community
4. Young people develop self-sufficiency, educational and employment readiness skills needed for successful transition from adolescence to adulthood
5. Young people develop connections to caring adults, peers and the broader community

While YouthCARE offers recreational and social outlets, the programs are designed to go beyond fun activities by working on multiple levels to identify the needs of young people. Cultural exchange and education activities in each program empower youth to feel pride in their culture, trust and respect themselves and others, and work toward greater cultural appreciation and racial equality. Youth are encouraged to create friendships that defy racial and ethnic stereotypes. By involving participants in projects that necessitate collaboration across cultures, they not only learn to work as a team with those who are different from themselves, but they also experience success in aiding their communities.

Young people employed in YouthCARE's Multicultural Youth Employment Program learn skills to become productive members of society as adults. The employment program works to create future leaders through hands-on training and engaging service-learning work. The employment responsibilities call upon youth to take pride in their work and claim ownership over their neighborhoods and communities. Ultimately, urban youth who are trained and employed through YouthCARE will be better prepared to enter a multicultural workplace and society.

Youth involved in the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) take on an even greater responsibility. Through their involvement in event planning and YouthCARE staff and board meetings, YAC members develop leadership, professional, and decision-making skills. YAC gives young people a voice in YouthCARE, allowing them deserved involvement in their own community.

A primary goal of all YouthCARE programs is to assist youth in making a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. Participation in Camp Sunrise, YouthLEAD, and the Young Women's Mentoring Program fosters the development of responsible, thoughtful, and engaged youth. YouthCARE creates opportunities for young people to learn to be open-minded and socially conscious, confident in their own cultures, yet appreciative of the differences of their neighbors.

YouthCARE is governed by a diverse 27-member Board of Directors that meets bi-monthly to provide strategic, visionary, and on-going support to the organization. Each Board member serves on one of several policy committees, and many also serve as program or special events volunteers. In addition, youth participants attend Board meetings, providing insighe and reporting on the organization's youth leadership activities.

YouthCARE's regular paid adult staff consists of 13 full-time. We also employ 7-8 college work study students and interns from Macalester College and the University of Minnesota during the school year. YouthCARE employs a significant number of temporary full- and part-time adult staff during the summer at Camp Sunrise. Throughout the year, we employ 80 youth in our three primary programs. We consistently employ a multicultural staff that is trained to work together to make youth feel included, respected, and valued.

On an annual basis, YouthCARE has over 200 policy, program, and special events volunteers.

YouthCARE continued to have great success in helping youth reach our stated organizational goals. While youth participating may not focus on all of the goals all of the time, all three YouthCARE youth development programs work in different ways to achieve our goals. In the 2012-13 program year, we had a sample size of over 300 surveys and 95 observations to help tell our story. The results are exciting and proof that programming that focuses on developing young people outside of the classroom can, and at YouthCARE does, have a significant impact on their social and emotional development.

Goal 1: Young people gain respect, understanding and appreciation for themselves and others.
Outcome: As a result of participating in YouthCARE activities 338 youth reported the following:
•95% have made new friends in this program.
•90% learned how to get along with others.
•92% have done things that make me feel good about myself, in this program.

Goal 2: Young people develop leadership skills and have the opportunity to use them within YouthCARE and the broader community.
Outcome: As a result of participation in YouthCARE leadership activities 185 youth reported the following:
•91% increased their ability to place group goals above the things they want.
•96% increased their ability to help a group be successful.
•91% increased their ability to appreciate opinions that are different from their own.

Goal 3: Young people develop cultural competency skills needed to thrive in a multicultural community.
Outcome: As a result of participation in YouthCARE activities 338 youth reported the following:
•92% are comfortable meeting people who are different from themselves.
•94% respect the values and traditions of people from different racial, ethnic, or cultural groups.
•90% try to find something that they have in common when they meet people who are different from them.

Goal 4: Young people develop self-sufficiency, educational and employment readiness skills needed for successful transition from adolescence to adulthood.
Outcome: As a result of participating in YouthCARE activities youth reported or demonstrated:
•90% of youth (338) reported that what they do in the program will help them in their future.
•83 of 93 (89%) of youth employees successfully completed a job training program
•91% of youth who completed an employment training program demonstrated moderate to significant improvement as evidenced by supervisor observations.

Goal 5: Young people are connected to caring adults, peers and the broader community.
Outcome: As a result of participating in YouthCARE activities 338 youth reported the following:
•96% feel at least one staff in the program cares about them.
•88% have an adult from YouthCARE who they can talk to if they have a problem.
•91% (of 185 youth) increased their connection to the natural environment.