The Youth Excellence Project (YEP) is a volunteer-run program designed to empower teen boys who have faced significant life challenges to build resilience, navigate life obstacles, and emerge as young adults committed to bettering society. We partner with several non-profit organizations to offer a series of adventure and leadership challenges held throughout the year.
Our 2019 challenges kick off with a winter cabin camping experience facilitated by Outside Perspectives, followed by a spring hiking/camping expedition with Outside Perspectives, a full-day fitness and martial arts mash-up with CAGE Fitness & Ju Jitsu Academy, a high trees zip-line and ropes course challenge with Empower Leadership Sports, a high peaks summer backpacking adventure with Outside Perspectives, a late summer 4-day canoe camping challenge with Outside Perspectives, and a Youth Leadership Summit that the boys will host in the fall focused on non-violence and healthy masculinity along with the Children’s Center on Family Violence.
Across the year, the boys establish strong, healthy, and lasting relationships with positive adults and peers. Our expectation is that these connections can be sustained and serve to provide a valuable resource as these boys attain personal goals and find direction. We also work together to positively impact our communities, with a particular focus on preventing violence and supporting individuals affected by violence. In this capacity, there are additional opportunities to partner with outside agencies to provide peer-led workshops other youth and develop media to raise public awareness of the effects of violence, promote healthy relationships, and advocate for victims in need of support.