Youthlinc - Creating lifetime humanitarians

SERVICE YEAR
Local Service Programs

Commitment to the Local Community

It is not enough to go on an international trip to become a humanitarian. It requires service aimed to improve local communities. That is why:

We require our student participants in the Service Year to contribute 60-100 hours of local service
We partner with over 100 local organizations and provide them with over 150 volunteers each year. For a list of community partners see our Local Service Directory.
We have developed a flagship local service program Real Life in SLC, where our current year participants and alums can develop and implement a life skills curriculum and mentor teen refugees in South Salt Lake.

Charity Begins at Home

In Youthlinc I really like the idea of stressing local service being just as important as international service. That is what makes this program rise above the rest.

–Jessica Brothers, Thailand 2008

Each year, Youthlinc students contribute nearly 12,000 hours of service in their own communities, becoming relied upon volunteers for those in need all over Utah. Each student must contribute between 60-100 hours of local service in order to earn their sponsorship for their international service experience.

While many programs exist that offer just an international service experience, the Youthlinc experience is unique in its strategy to provide an intense school year program linking local and international service. Our participants see how much they can provide right here at home on an on-going basis, for the truth is that few people can afford to travel throughout their lifetime to serve. It is our goal that the commitment to volunteer started through the intense year-long Youthlinc program will foster a service ethic that will last a lifetime!

Youthlinc programs have made a huge impact on the volunteer work force in Utah -- from Logan to St. George, Tooele to Vernal. We have had satellite programs in Las Vegas, Washington State, and Massachusetts. We are grateful for our continuing partnership with the Rotary Club of Rochester, Minnesota.

From the inception of the program in 1999, Youthlinc students have contributed more than 90,000 hours of service in their own communities.

Local Service Requirements
Criteria for selection of local service sites

At the Boys and Girls Club, I worked with a lot of kids who got very little attention at home, or none at all. Despite that, they mostly had good attitudes, and that wore off on me. I also learned patience and how to play 6-base kick ball.

–Sean McCandless,
2004 participant

Student participants select their own local service site, through consultation with our Local Service Coordinator. We want students to become involved in activities that make an impact in the lives of needy people or communities, activities where they are interacting and making relationships with people they wouldn't normally encounter. We encourage students to perform hands-on service where they are mentored in a positive atmosphere by their supervisors.

Though we are not affiliated with any particular service agencies or organizations, our students participants have volunteered at hundreds of sites all over the state. Youthlinc partners with the Utah Office of Education to publish a Local Service Directory of sites where our student participants have served, and have reviewed positively.

All student participants are required to do a number of local service hours in order to earn their service sponsorships. Sixty (60) hours of local service is required for the Mexico program. Eighty (80) hours of local service is required for the Cambodia, Peru and Thailand programs. One hundred (100) hours of local service is required for the Kenya programs. Sponsorships of $600 (for Mexico), $800 (for Peru and Thailand) and $1000 (for Kenya) help to offset the costs of the International Service experience.

Students must complete their local service hours during the school year in which they are accepted into the program and students may begin to record local service hours which count toward the program upon the receipt of their acceptance letter. All Youthlinc students must apply and be accepted to volunteer at any site. They must undergo any appropriate training as specified by the local service site.

For our complete Local Service policies, please read our Student Application, Waiver and Code, and Policy Document.

This program has impacted me in such a way that I plan on being a humanitarian for the rest of my life. I will continue to give service in my community for the rest of my life. Although it is fun to go to another country and do service I have realized how much service needs to be done in my own community.

–Scott Simpson, Mexico 2008

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Real Life in SLC

Following Youthlinc’s dedication to local service – annually contributing almost 12,000 hours of service state-wide – we are proud to partner with the Hser Ner Moo Community Center of South Salt Lake in a ‘flagship’ local service program called Real Life in SLC (RLSLC).

RLSLC began in February 2010, and allows Youthlinc students the opportunity to mentor and tutor refugee teens. The Real Life curriculum focuses on life skills (such as health, hygiene, career development, financial literacy) and cultural exchange through friendships formed through sport, the arts, and social activities. Youthlinc and Hser Ner Moo students work cooperatively to develop the project based curriculum. Many of the students come from countries Youthlinc serves, and Youthlinc students can test-drive the international activities they are planning at Hser Ner Moo Center.

The Miss Utah Pageant is partnering with Youthlinc and Mondo Art Project (MAP) to promote art expression through humanitarian service.

The goal is to raise $10,000, half of which will be employed locally to enrich afterschool programs at Hser Ner Moo Center in South Salt Lake, adding an additional afternoon each week of art instruction and expression for teen refugees through the Youthlinc Real Life in SLC mentoring program.

The other half of the funds will be expensed at $1,000 per Youthlinc international site, serving youngsters in small remote villages in Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and Cambodia.

With the guidance of Mondo Art Project, Youthlinc participants will plan during the 2010-11 school year an art enrichment and expression program to be implemented during their two week service trips summer 2011. Youthlinc will work with MAP, our Rotarian in-country coordinators, community leaders and teachers in each village to institute sustainable art instruction and regular opportunities for artistic expression for children.

This is a great opportunity to expand our partnerships and our humanitarian service initiatives locally and internationally. We are certain that this new dimension of our activities will enrich our Utah Service Year participants as well.

Many thanks to GE Money Bank for funding this impactful pilot program.

We are also grateful for this year’s sponsors: Wells Fargo Bank and The Burton Foundation

To get involved with the RLSLC program and support Utah’s refugee population please contact our Local Service Director: Youthlinc@xmission.com

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