Youth 4 Orphans Inc
Impacting Generations for a Better Future
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mentoring
Investing in the youth and young adults of our community is at the core of what we do at Advance the Faith. Through mentoring, we are developing our next generations of Christian leaders. The Academy offers free online discipleship and mentoring with Christian-based curriculum to participants who work independently and then meet with a mentor weekly. Each module consists of faith building discipleship and leadership development. Students who complete the program will be equipped to be strong leaders of Christian character in their schools, workplace and abroad. Mentors who participate in the program invest in the future of youth and young adults by guiding them through the curriculum and providing appropriate levels of advice and guidance through different phases of life. As students are developing their faith and leadership skills, they can put them into action by serving as a leader on one of our mission trips or as a mentor to a younger student.
Mission/Vision Trips
Mission and Vision trips serve as an onboarding or point of entry into the mission field. Participants are trained and then guided on a one-week mission trip to Haiti or the Bahamas. There the participants serve at orphanages and in communities to share the Gospel message, provide camps for 50 or more children and care for orphans. On a few occasions trip participants may provide some work related activities. However the goal of these trips is to create an awareness of global social responsibility, a deepened faith, and to develop Christian community leaders with a servant's heart for philanthropy. In some locations we provide life skill training to youth who are transitioning and aging out of orphan care. Our high school and young adult trip participants learn valuable life skills alongside the children's home youth that are aging out of the system. Most of the participants repeat trips in following years.
Orphan Care & Community Development
This program encompases caring for children who have already entered into orphan care and developing initiatives to help communities break cycles that lead vulnerable children into becoming orphans. Y4O provides support for the basic needs of children in orphanages in Haiti and the Bahamas. Support for orphanages includes rent, food, education, staff, and medical. The community development initiative is an investment of resources in international communities that creates development programs that ultimately become sustainable with minimum support. The programs include 3 phases to partner with a community transformation project. The first phase is stabilization to help with providing food, clean water, gospel message and education. The second phase is community growth to help with agriculture, education, leadership. Phase three is for sustainability and multiplication; the community will begin business development projects, re-invest in other communities, and become spiritual leaders.
Internships
Internship opportunities with Y4O invest in future Christian leaders by showing current college students and recent graduates that their beliefs and values can impact the local and global workplace. Each year the organization offers hands-on and practical experience in the areas of children and youth studies, marketing and communications, biblical studies, business, finance, and education.
Where we work
Awards
Affiliations & memberships
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Y4O has three specific goals we serve to accomplish through this mission. First, to spread the Gospel. We believe that by bringing the good news of salvation, we will help families and communities restore hope for a positive future both locally and abroad. Second, to provide youth and young adults with training, mentoring and interning opportunities to become tomorrow's Christian leaders. Our programs offer a perspective change from a me-centered secular view to a Christ-centered global view. We want to equip young people with a sense of purpose and responsibility to provide support and service to those less fortunate. Finally, while we support orphanages with supplies and financial aid, our ultimate goal is to partner with the local church in foreign countries to develop sustainable programs that break the cycles that lead vulnerable children to become orphans.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Youth and young adults are typically connected to Y4O through a mission trip experience to a partner community in one of the countries we serve. During the trips the participants are providing camps, training, and worship experiences to the children and communities abroad to strengthen their faith and leadership skills. Upon returning home, they are offered opportunities to stay connected and increase knowledge and skills through online training and mentoring, leadership service, and intern positions. The participants, although younger, can financially partner with Y4O to support their new friends in foreign countries. The organization has developed a 3 step approach to partnering with foreign communities with the ultimate goal of sustainability that is run by locals and can be mirrored in neighboring villages. The organizations near-term activities include expanding program development and participant engagement in mentoring, training and interning programs and increased community development programs, such as afterschool programs and clean water/agriculture initiatives. We will need to increase fundraising activities and awareness in order to achieve these goals.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Currently, the organization has a passionate board of 8 people, two of which run the day to day activities on a full time basis. The board has had some connection with the organization through trip participation, mentor activities, program development and financial support. There are currently 3 full-time staff members and 1 intern who support the activities of the organization. The organization grew out of a program offered at a large local church and continues to engage their participants and receive support. There are two other churches that provide support for international programs. We are also expanding church, corporate, individual and organization partnerships in the U.S. Fundraising iniatives have also increased and the organization is seeking grant opportunities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Interest and participation in mission trips has been consistent over the past years with an average of 60 participants traveling to serve in foreign countries. However, since COVID-19 and civil unrest in Haiti, our trips have paused. CORE Leadership has successfully graduated two years of participants in the online mentoring program and has two international participants enrolled in the Bahamas and Pakistan. College students are taking the skills and faith they are learning and using them to be leaders in their Greek organizations, clubs and friendships at college. We have successfully hired and trained interns both locally and remotely in 3 different states. The internships have included a biblical studies majors to help write content, marketing majors to serve in communications and social media, worship interns, children and youth studies interns. A financial literacy program has successfully partnered with local NGO's to provide afterschool programs to at risk high school students in Naples, FL . Community development initiatives such as a water well, fishing boat business and student service program have begun and funding is coming in through individuals and a church. Y4O provides over 35,000 meals to children in Haiti and the Bahamas, annually. As a fairly new organization our greatest challenge is awareness and funding. Making vital connections with faith based organizations to encourage mission trip & CORE participation and funding are a top priority.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Youth 4 Orphans Inc
Board of directorsas of 07/20/2023
Mr. Peter Pytlik
Warehouse Services INC
Edward Blankenship
Treasurer
Madi Cona
Secretary
Peter Pytlik
Board Chair
Thomas Tippett
Member at Large
Terry Hand
Founder/President
Serena Josephson
Member at Large
Jennifer Hand
Co-Founder
Lou Traina
Member at Large
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
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Disability
No data