Empower young people to succeed in Downtown Pittsburgh image

Empower young people to succeed in Downtown Pittsburgh

Support the build out of our newest innovation hub

$550 raised

$35,000 goal

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Goal

Over the past several years, the increase in students attending (and transitioning between) schools in the Downtown Pittsburgh area has increased to over 3,000 between the hours of 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. resulting in heavily populated areas with no standard transition services offered to mitigate volume. Through establishing a presence in Downtown Pittsburgh, YouthPlaces will support current efforts to effectively transition youth from local area high schools to neighborhood-based after school programs and/or workforce development/readiness opportunities. Overall, we anticipate three goals coming out of our engagement downtown:

  • Connect with youth
  • Create a safe place referral HUB
  • Employment Liaising

Rationale

For years, the public school and transportation systems have been partners in ensuring youth are transported from their home neighborhoods to schools of choice safely. Over the past ten years, youth accessing transportation, coupled with the limited amount of neighborhood school choices has seen an increase in the volume of students utilizing public transportation to arrive at their intended school/home destinations. The main transition hub, being Downtown Pittsburgh, has experienced this volume in mass, [over 1,200 students] between peak business hours of 2p.m. - 5 p.m., along with the three schools located in downtown Pittsburgh adding an additional 1,700[1] students. With school, neighborhood, and the typical challenges of teenage development, Downtown Pittsburgh has experienced an increase in disruptive events over the past five years and has worked alongside business owners and other parties to develop solutions to the transition challenges. However, redirecting youth to their intended destinations and/or neighborhood based programs has had limited impact. While adult redirection is a strategy, having a specific location to redirect them to would enhance the current efforts and also put youth on pathways to receiving services such as academic enrichment, college and career readiness, workforce/job opportunities and more.


[1] APlus Schools 2018 Report to the Community