YouthLaunch, Inc.

Program Descriptions:

Each YouthLaunch program has a unique impact and was designed to meet previously unmet community needs. The breadth of opportunities created by YouthLaunch programs supports the idea that it is empowering service that makes the difference in youth development. YouthLaunch provides multiple avenues for individual youth to engage in positive service experiences that empower and inspire each young participant while having a lasting effect on the community served.

No Kidding: Straight Talk from Teen Parents:
Teen parents are engaged as peer educators who inform Austin area middle and high school students about the rights, realities and responsibilities of teen parenting. A public/private partnership between YouthLaunch and the Texas Attorney General?s Division for Children and Families, the goal of the program is to encourage young people to delay parenting until they are emotionally and financially prepared for the responsibility.

Youth Partnership for Change
Youth Partnership for Change (YPC) is an alcohol prevention education program with the goal of raising awareness about of the effects of alcohol on the developing brain to a broad range of children and adults. Young people will serve as primary messengers of this information; and they will share their knowledge through community outreach and education projects to help their peers, parents, and community members understand the real dangers of underage alcohol use.

Urban Roots
Urban Roots is a youth development program that uses sustainable agriculture as means to affect lasting change for youth participants, and to nourish East Austin residents who currently have limited access to healthy foods. Young people will cultivate a local 2 - 5 acre, diversified organic farm, selling a portion of their harvest in the Austin area and donating a portion to local hunger relief programs. Through this process young people can connect to the land and learn the benefits of growing, eating, selling and donating organic food, as well as leadership, entrepreneurial and life skills, and the importance of giving back to their community.

YouthLaunch Scholarship for Outstanding Service
Designed to highlight the transformative power of service, each year this program provides college scholarships to three students who have worked to improve their communities and can speak firsthand about the positive transformation that occurs when young people commit themselves to service.