Providing Resources and Knowledge to Empower the Youth

The project was developed to provide opportunities and resources to first-generation youth from possibly following in their parents footsteps whose jobs may often be marred by racial and ethnic inequality at United Way of Santa Cruz, with the Jovenes SANOS program. During a three-semester internship, and through interactions with the program\u27s youth, the need for school related resources, and college readiness became apparent. Such missing resources and readiness are due to a lack of access to tutoring; absence of a study place, home care responsibilities, lack of access to mentorship for college readiness, and missing employment pathways. Consequently, such factors have unwanted consequences that can be an obstacle to the future of students with lower lifetime earnings, the likelihood of remaining in poverty is high and less likely to access higher education. The project\u27s goal is to provide the essential resources and information that youth may need to succeed beyond their known potential and reach higher education, which may deter them from poverty in later life. The capstone project aimed to do this through the conduction of a workshop provided by affiliated agencies which will include knowledge and resources that will be shared to students