Cook County, Ill. – As a program participant with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc., in Cook County, Ill., Jesse stayed out of trouble, found a part-time job and completed truck driving school. He made a complete turnaround from where he was a year earlier.
“Jesse has made significant strides in making responsible decisions and following through on opportunities,” Jesse’s YAP® Advocate said. “Over the past three months, he has been working part-time, demonstrating responsibility and commitment.”
In its 50th year, YAP® is a national nonprofit in 32 states and Washington, D.C. that works with youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, and other public systems to provide community-based services as an alternative to placing young people in trouble, in crisis, or facing other complex challenges outside of their homes in residential care or corrections facilities. YAP® Advocates are trained to deliver the nonprofit’s YAPWrap® services model, which is designed to help program participants see and nurture their strengths and connect them and their parents/ guardians, and other family members with tools, including basic needs resources, to help them put their lives on a positive course.
YAP® provided services to Jesse as part of an Illinois youth justice aftercare program. Now 19, he had spent six months in a youth justice facility after being convicted of armed robbery. Jesse said the time could have been triple that had he not completed a substance use program and earned his GED while in a state facility. As part of his services, the nonprofit connected Jesse to a YAP® Supported Work job, where he received a paycheck as he sharpening his skills and work ethic.
“I benefited from the program by being able to participate in the supportive work program which helped me get back on my feet,” Jesse said, adding that his YAP® Advocate helped him with “all aspects, helping me get my life together, apply for jobs, going out for food and having good talks while updating him about my progress.”
Jesse said guidance from his Advocate guided him to make better choices.
“He was always there when I needed him,” he added. “He has been a positive influence in my life and engages with me in positive activities and talks about things with me if I feel I have no one else. He has helped me change a lot and help me understand a lot of things in life.”
The YAP® Supported Work job led to Jesse applying for and landing employment with a national package delivery company. Meantime, Jesse’s Advocate said he worked to meet other goals, like rebuilding his relationship with his family.
As a YAP® program participant, Jesse enrolled in commercial driver’s license school and received a laptop computer as a recipient of the nonprofit’s Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund Scholarship for Continuing Education. Named after YAP®’s founder, the Tom Jeffers Fund scholarship is funded nearly 100% by employee donations. Recipients can receive the scholarship as $1,200 award for tuition, job training/supplies fees, or in the form of a laptop computer.
“This scholarship will help me pursue my career which is truck driving,” Jesse wrote in his scholarship application essay. “I see this as my way to keep doing positive and never look back. It will help me finally have stability and financial freedom, as well a working many hours to stay away from distractions and focus on building my future.”
Jesse wants to a role model to his peers.
“I am constantly impressed by his perseverance and dedication, and I am incredibly proud of him for overcoming obstacles to stay on track,” his Advocate wrote in recommending Jesse for the scholarship. “[Jesse’s] future is bright, and I strongly believe that this scholarship will provide him with the opportunity he needs to continue his path to success.”
Watch Jesse’s interview with YAP®’s Chief Marketing and Communications Kelly Williams here. To learn more about YAP®, visit yapinc.org.
