SAY "YESS" TO LANCASTER YOUTH

Lancaster's Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success Program

Mission

It is the mission of Lancaster’s Youth Empowerment Strategies for Success Program to provide development opportunities to youth throughout the city of Lancaster which includes: job readiness training, leadership development, exposure to entrepreneurship, mentoring, and post-secondary career exploration. Our goal is to develop Lancaster's future workforce into determined, successful citizens who will one day become our city's leaders. In doing so the Academy strives to accomplish the following goals:

• Provide extensive training for youth to ensure that they are “job ready”. Youth spend approximately six weeks with our trainers addressing job etiquette, e.g., reporting to work on time; use of personal cell phones on the job; use of employment resources; job site behavior, etc.
• Develop employability skills, which include ways to answer the telephone using the company’s standards; computer use; Xeroxing, etc.
• Promote civic engagement: each youth involved in L-YESS must be involved in a community engagement project. We meet with the youth once a week while they are employed and assign them projects, as well as review those that they are involved in while in the program.
• Expose youth participating in L-YESS to post-secondary educational and/or vocational opportunities.
• Provide professional mentors and instructors in a variety of career paths. Each youth is assigned a mentor while in the program. The mentors serve as counselors and supports for the young people.
• Provide safe and constructive social outlets through supervised out of school activities; and
• Encourage continued school enrollment.

The advantages of L-YESS include

• Developing Lancaster’s future workforce
• Youth receive "real" work experience
• Exploration and training in a variety of career fields
• Gaining skills that are necessary for future employment
• Mentoring and networking opportunities from a diverse pool of professional
• Stimulates the local economy

*Please Contact us with any questions,concerns or ideas*