YES
YOUTH ENRICHMENT SERVICES
Ahead of its time and punching above its weight, Youth Enrichment Services (YES) formed in 1994 to create hope out of hopelessness, paint a bright future out of uncertainty and give young people from inner-city and urban communities a portrait of themselves as successful, empowered, and confident leaders. With YES's mentorship these young people go on to become leaders among their peers, within their schools, on their sports teams, and within their homes. MORE »
OUR STORY
WHO WE ARE
Ahead of its time and punching above its weight, Youth Enrichment Services (YES) formed in 1994 to create hope out of hopelessness, paint a bright future out of uncertainty and give young people from inner-city and urban communities a portrait of themselves as successful, empowered, and confident leaders. With YES’ mentorship, our young people go on to become leaders among their peers, and within their schools, homes, and communities. MORE »
3500+
young people served through YES programming.
25+
years of dedicated service to local communities, students, and families.
54%+
54%
of currently enrolled students have participated in YES for 3+ years.
OUR WORK
WHAT WE DO
The heart of YES is a spirit of mentorship that places students at its center. YES enables peer mentors to guide project curriculum, program focus, and youth activities. YES taps into students’ most valuable connection: each other. By using students to lead, guide, influence, and motivate each other, YES has created a formula for success that is a catalyst for community growth, economic prosperity, and conscious leadership. YES' model has been vetted and validated and has thrived for the past two decades. This framework informs our two core programs: Mentoring Partnerships and Diversion 2000.
YES recently completed the National Quality Mentoring System (NQMS) process. The NQMS evaluates our programs to ensure that they are in alignment with the Elements of Effective Practice and other research-based best practices. The NQMS creates recognized standards and procedures for the operation of high-quality mentoring programs based on evidence and guidelines for continuous improvement within a program.
Read our 2020 Summer Report
Summer employment can have numerous economic and social benefits for young people, particularly those living in low-income communities. Yet, there are significant gaps in access and quality of summer programming for youth that fall along racial and class lines. These gaps have only widened as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to disproportionately impact Black and low-income families.
However, at YES we made the most of these circumstances and provided meaningful summer employment opportunities for over 100 young people. MORE »
MENTORING
PROGRAMMING
REPORTING
OUR IMPACT
TESTIMONIALS
Jhantelle Thomas
“I keep coming back because, to me, we’re all like one big family; above all, YES is my family. And this was good for me.”
CONNECT
WHERE TO LOCATE US
Send Us a Message
Youth Enrichment Services
6031 Broad Street #202
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
youthenrichmentservices.org
Tel: 412-661-7834
Fax: 412-362-1466
OUR VISION
YES seeks to empower communities to become their own best resource.