Empower

Youth Co-Op believes that by assisting people to improve their education and enter employment, we help to empower them to lead rewarding lives independent of government help. Each day, our trained professionals empower our students, youth, families, refugees, and jobseekers by helping them access the tools they need to succeed. And we walk with them in their journey toward self-sufficiency, providing counseling, setting short and long-term goals, and recognizing even the smallest accomplishments with positive reinforcement. We learned many years ago that a friendly smile goes a long way toward boosting an individual’s self-esteem.

Our Youth Co-Op Charter School and Preparatory School empower students today, as they have for the past decade, by implementing proven educational concepts such as small class sizes, parental involvement, and a culture the encourages students to achieve their highest potential. Use of the latest technology helps to empower students with laptop computers in upper grades and electronic whiteboards in all classrooms. In our agency’s youth programs, counselors empower participants to succeed by meeting with them regularly face-to-face, setting goals in writing and monitoring the steps toward attainment, implementing language which identifies the promise in our kids instead of labeling them, matching them with mentors who are successful in business and leaders in our community, and recognizing with pride their achievements of educational credential in front of their peers and their families.

Case managers empower families who recently arrived in this country by explaining the vast array of services available to them immediately in the community. Our orientation sessions empower these individuals with the tools they need to manage their finances, develop a household budget of income and expenses, obtain valid identification, open bank accounts, and protect their identification and assets from theft. Our staff of professionals works with each family and empowers them by designing a case plan with a specific set of do-able steps which leads to self-sufficiency in four to six months. Once family members become employed, they are empowered by the fruits of their labor and feel the pride to live meaningful lives without relying on public assistance.

Our fondest hope is that each of our students, youth, families, refugees, and jobseekers is empowered through the activities, services, programs, and initiatives offered by Youth Co-Op which are designed which are all designed with one thing in mind: to address their individual needs leading to success. With their success as a focus, we empower all of those whom we are privileged to serve with the resources they need to one day give back to their communities so that they, too, may experience the rewards that make contributing as members of society so very meaningful.