15th Night Youth Action Council 2022 Highlights

2022 was a busy year for the 15th Night Youth Action Council! We are so proud of all the work that this group of young leaders have accomplished this year and are excited to share some of our favorite moments with you.

• In partnership with so many amazing volunteers, the YAC was able to serve more than 750 meals to youth at Burrito Friday, and we still have 3 weeks to go! These Friday afternoons have created opportunities for our young leaders to connect with other youth, share resources, connect them with services, and share compassion and love.
• We witnessed Makayla sit with a young, expecting mother, sharing in her experience of navigating homelessness while trying to decide what the best decision is for her, her body, and the baby.
• We watched Leti support a youth in crisis; creating a safe space for them to share where they were at, while providing empathy, extra food, resources, and crisis information to help once they left us.
• We’ve celebrated with youth as they reach accomplishments like obtaining ids and jobs, and sat next to youth as they processed struggles and hardships that come with navigating life on their own.
• We’ve provided youth with survival supplies including tents, tarps, sleeping bags, cooling towels, hand warmers, reusable water bottles, cleansing wipes, and more. We’ve connected youth to school, employment programs, food stamps and many other community services.
• We served more than 500 meals to youth at “Our Neighborhood” in Springfield every Thursday from July – November. (Currently looking for an indoor space to keep this up and running all year!)
• We hosted TWO Back to School BBQ events and helped more than 100 youth prepare for the new school year. At the event, youth could choose their own school supplies, a brand new pair of shoes, and back to school clothes.
• We partnered with a number of agencies to advise on programming including: HIV Alliance, Trifoia, Lane County Systems of Care, Kindness Campaign, 90by30, University of Oregon Research Lab, and Lane County Human Services.
• We were instrumental in advising on the $3.6 million dollar grant Lane County received to fund projects to address youth homelessness.
• We hosted a Giving Thanks event in Eugene and served over 26 youth, providing survival supplies and delicious food.
• Three of our youth leaders graduated high school!
• We welcomed two new youth leaders onto the council.

Phew! We could go on and on, but hope this gives you a glimpse of the work the YAC is doing in our community. They are truly the change makers. If you are interested in supporting the YAC in 2023, please consider volunteering to provide a meal for Burrito Friday or for a YAC meeting! Sign up here or email Info@15thnight.org for more info.