Youthlinc - Creating lifetime humanitarians

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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 Guatemala 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 refer to the Policies document in the Student Application.

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 Salt Lake City

Real Life in Salt Lake City (RLSLC) is an afterschool life skills education and mentoring program that partners Youthlinc with the Hser Ner Moo Community Welcome Center located in South Salt Lake. Through this program, Youthlinc and Hser Ner Moo aim to help the teenage refugee population in Salt Lake become more comfortable and confident in their new community.

In the first 2 years of existence, the RLSLC program has seen dramatic growth and success. In the 2010-2011 Service Year the program expanded to 3 days a week, served over 35 teenage refugee students on a consistent basis, and introduced over 60 local Utah students to new leadership experiences and international concerns present in their own community.

The curriculum includes life skills, financial literacy, art expression, as well as plenty of opportunity for social engagement and mentoring by Youthlinc volunteers. This program is equally beneficial for both teen refugees new to Salt Lake who otherwise would have idle, unproductive time in the afternoon and Youthlinc participants who are given leadership roles throughout the program.

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