Real Life

Supporting Refugee and
Immigrant Teens in Utah

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Real Life continues to support many refugee and immigrant teens in gaining essential life skills.  During the 2019-2020 school year, Real Life served at twelve welcome centers and directly influenced over 400 youth from low-income families. Real Life utilizes 120+ Real Life interns and volunteer mentors. 

We are grateful to our community partners for helping make Real Life possible.  During the 2019-2020 school year, Real Life partnered with Promise South Salt Lake, Promise Millcreek, Refugee Immigrant Center – Asian Association of Utah, Salt Lake City School District, and Granite School District.   We are pleased to announce two new additional partnerships with Real Life for the 2020-2021 school year: Project Access and Umoja Generation.

Real Life Interns and volunteer mentors administered curriculum based on financial literacy, career & college readiness, communication, civic engagement, social and cultural activities, physical and emotional health, STEM and art expression. Interns and mentors also provide the participants with one hour of homework help each day.  There was improvement in every core subject among teens due to our programming.  

With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the State of Utah, school closures were ordered by Governor Herbert from the middle of March to the end of May, 2020. Because of the school closures and the uncertainty of continuing COVID-19 restrictions, Real Life has developed a virtual lesson curriculum. Real Life continues to be flexible in offering virtual and/or in-person programming to all of its twelve welcome centers. Real Life is dedicated, more than ever, in providing necessary services and growing with our mission to support refugee and immigrant youth in gaining essential life skills. As a result, Real Life continues to improve lessons, increasing curriculum quality, ESL friendliness and active learning components.

Real Life Annual Report

VIEW OUR ANNUAL REPORT

“Being the Real Life Intern at Highland High School has been nothing short of pure happiness for me. No two days are the same, and the time is spent working hard and laughing hard, which I truly value. Seeing all of the students overcome the obstacles they thought were out of reach is just one of the many perks to this program, along with simply providing a place for these students to get the help and support they deserve. It fills me with gratitude knowing that I have made so many new friends through Real Life, and that they never fail to put a smile on my face. To say Real Life has changed lives would be an understatement, because I have seen first-hand how much participants improve over the course of the year, which is not only rewarding for me to watch, but also for them to recognize their potential for the best future possible. It is programs like Real Life that create more inclusive and inspiring communities, and I have been fortunate enough to be involved with it.”

Mimi Reeder

Real Life Intern

Real Life
Scholarship

Need-based scholarships honoring Real Life high school seniors and college students of refugee or immigrant background

Youthlinc is pleased to announce the awarding of six need-based scholarships honoring Real Life high school seniors and college students of refugee or immigrant background.  We would like to recognize the Low Family Foundation, the Barker Charitable Foundation and an anonymous donor for their contributions to make this award possible. In 2020, we awarded one $5,000 scholarship, one $3,000 scholarship and three $2,000 scholarships for a total of $14,000 in college scholarships.