Over forty five ago, Youth Action YouthBuild (YAYB) changed the face of East Harlem by taking community activism to a whole new level. Enlisting the help of neighborhood youth who had had enough of the crime and neglect, local schoolteacher Dorothy Stoneman and a group of teenagers decided to take action and start a set of community improvement projects designed by young people around the neighborhood. One of these was to renovate a condemned building – turning it into protected, low income housing – while also giving the young people the skills they needed to become leaders in their own community.
They saw a problem and acted!
This turned into an international movement that is still thriving today.
Evaluation Report:
Please read our most recent 2023 evaluation report on the impact of Youth Action on the lives of past participants:
An Evaluation of the Youth Action Program (3) (1)
The following partners have helped support YAYB. Thank you for your contributions!
