Thanks to all who came to the Youth and Young Adults Committee’s (YYAC) August meeting! Folks from Teen Feed, YouthCare, Youth Undoing Institutional Racism (YUIR), End the Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC), New Horizons, Seattle Youth Ministries (SYM), Youth Housing Connection, Auburn Youth Resources, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, and ROOTS joined to discuss and plan the upcoming Youth Advocacy Summit, a project of the YYAC. Be sure to mark your calendar for the Summit: September 22-23, 2014 from 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Seattle City Hall’s Bertha Knight Landes room.
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About the Youth Advocacy Summit … The Youth Summit was designed to be a meaningful entry into civic engagement for young people who have already experienced disenfranchisement. The Coalition and YYAC work to make sure that the people who are directly affected by public policies are part of dialogue, debate, and decision-making. The Youth Summit is an exciting and important way to:
- Engage young people in expressing their opinions, identifying priorities, and speaking up powerfully
- Inform local decision-makers who often don’t hear from youth or people who are homeless or struggling to stay housed
- Support active and informed participation in democracy to make sure that Everyone Counts!
TAKE ACTION! As members of Coalition’s Youth & Young Adults Committee, your role is to work with youth participants to shape the summit, and to connect it to on-going advocacy and public education about Seattle and King County budget processes. As staff, we need your help to recruit and train peer leaders to help with facilitation, and support young people in communicating effectively about their issues to local elected officials and government staff.
- HELP RECRUIT PEER LEADERS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit_Peer Leaders Recruitment Flyer to help recruit peer leaders.
- HELP RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS: Download and share the 2014 Youth Summit Flyer to help recruit participants and spread the word!
Additionally, we need your help to secure food donations and contributions for the two-day event. Contact (Rebecca) at rebecca@homelessinfo.org for more information. Have a place in mind? We’re created this letter template for your use: 2014 Food Donation Solicitation Letter_YouthSummit.
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We were also joined by representatives from YUIR/EPIC, who shared important information about the No New Youth Jail campaign. As brief history, an initiative passed in 2012 to create a youth jail in the Central District of Seattle. YUIR believes that this isn’t the right path for our community, for youth, or for folks of color who are disproportionately represented among those in jail. YUIR’s motto is ‘Prevention, not Detention.’ Their next action is a silent protest on Sept. 2 at 12-noon at the King County Council Building — plan to attend and please do share their No New Youth Jail_ Silent Protest flyer. To get more information, contact James Williams: 253.883.9548; jamesatdu@hotmail.com.
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We heard from TeenFeed about the launch of their new Youth Access to Care (YAC) program, which provides support for homeless and street-involved youth and young adults as they access healthcare resources. 2014 Youth Access to Care program flyer
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Hatlo shared information about Queer Youth Network’s upcoming meeting. Check out this flyer for information about what QYN is, when they meet, and how to get involved: 2014 Queen Flyer_Meeting Dates.
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Please join us at our next meeting – the last before the Youth Summit – on Tuesday, September 9, 2014 from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Capitol Hill Library.