YEP started as an after-school program to address young women issues of self-image, identity, and leadership and was then known as Hmong Women’s Circle (HWC). That small program has grown to become the Youth Empowerment Program; a culturally sensitive program that focuses on youth development by providing safe spaces for growth, self-expression, and leadership. 

Strategies

• Activities: Various Workshops (i.e. histories, communication, relationships, art, higher education, etc.)
• Team Builders
• Community Project/Biography (Oral Histories of Relatives)
• Individual student check-in
  

Current Efforts

• Youth Circle Mentoring Program (YCMP)
• Youth Advocacy

“Sometimes, YCMP is the only place I can go to, to talk about what I’m going through.” -Johnson Senior

“I can go to a place [like YCMP] where I don’t have to explain myself all the time,” -John Still Elementary 6^th grader