Youth Opportunities Unlimited Receives $20,000 Grant from the Starbucks Foundation

Y.O.U is pleased to announce it has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Starbucks Foundation as part of its new Opportunity for All initiative. Funds from the grant will allow Y.O.U. to continue to strengthen its operations and school-based and community-based workforce programs. Y.O.U. is the only nonprofit in the state of Ohio to receive the grant from the Starbucks Foundation.

“This gift is an incredible opportunity to help more teens and young adults who are ready to pursue a path to economic success through Y.O.U.’s programs and services,” said Tony Burke, Vice President of Development and Communications at Y.O.U.

Building on more than 20 years of giving, the Starbucks Foundation has a long history of investing in communities around the world through support of organizations working to create job and education opportunities. With its new Opportunity for All initiative, the Starbucks Foundation is deepening its focus on three populations – youth, Veterans and military spouses, and refugees.

Y.O.U. community-based programs help more than 3,000 teens and young adults annually, connecting them to career pathways through summer and year-round jobs, internships and industry specific credential training programs. These programs are offered in collaboration with Ohio Means Jobs and other workforce and health and human services organizations.

Y.O.U. school-based programs help hundreds of teens annually overcome barriers related to poverty – violence, drugs, abuse, and low-expectations, to name a few — while building employability skills, learning entrepreneurship skills, and obtaining internships and their first work experiences.  Y.O.U. programs help teens graduate high school and go on to a career pathway through higher education, enlistment in the military, a certification program or an entry-level job.

Y.O.U. programs and services are focused on ensuring teens and young adults are ready to pursue a path to economic self-sufficiency through mentoring, employability skills training, industry-based credential training, career exploration, jobs, and internships. Y.O.U.’s goal is to see that teens and young adults in Northeast Ohio are well prepared to enter the workforce.  Y.O.U. is deeply committed to collaborating with other local youth-serving organizations to build the strongest workforce network possible.

For more information on the Starbucks Foundation grant, click here.