Page last updated 10/7/2001
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Fresh Youth Initiatives
The overall purpose of FYI is to produce a generation of concerned, committed young people to contribute to the betterment of Washington Heights. We accomplish this goal by providing opportunities for youth between the ages of 11 and 18 to perform ongoing, consistent community service work. FYI is based in and works primarily in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan, New York City.
FYI supports local youth as they create, develop and implement their own service projects, participate in service retreats, and hold public events to share their work and its results. An important facet of the program is "cascading leadership," in which older youth design their own service project, then recruit and manage a team of newer participants to help carry out their vision.
Service projects carried out by FYI participants are varied and ambitious -- making sleeping bags out of scratch materials for the homeless; gathering and distributing food through our own Helping Hands Food Pantry; cleaning parks; painting murals; collecting and distributing clothes to those in need; assisting at local day care centers; and tutoring younger students in reading and math.
During the past six years, FYI has laid the foundation for long-term success in Washington Heights. We have solidified our organizational structure, forged working relationships with other organizations, held service retreats, supervised many community-wide projects, and received significant media coverage. In the past three years alone, FYI youth have logged over 20,000 hours of service.
Visit the Fresh Youth Initiatives home page.
