YAP, Inc.The Neighborhood Advocate

Clark County, Nev. –  Former Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®) Inc., Clark County, Nev. Youth Justice Program participant Paul is off to Baton Rouge, La., this fall to attend college thanks in part to a scholarship he received through the nonprofit’s Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education. 

 “My goal is to use my personal experiences to give back and help other at-risk youth,” Paul wrote in his Endowment essay. “I plan to pursue a degree in criminal justice. My aspiration is to work within the justice system as a juvenile probation officer or youth counselor, focusing on rehabilitation and restorative justice to help others find a better path just as I did.” 

Thanks to donors – most of whom are YAP® employees – beneficiaries of the Endowment Fund are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarship annually. The award is $1,500 for college or trade school tuition, fees or supplies, or a laptop computer. The unique scholarship fund also receives generous donations from the YAP® Board of Directors and other contributors. 

YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems in communities across the U.S. to deliver family-centered, accountability-focused services as an alternative to correctional and residential care facilities. Principles of the nonprofit’s evidence-based alternative-to-placement model are also applied to its work with public safety systems to reduce neighborhood violence. 

Through a partnership with the Clark County Department of Juvenile Justice Services, YAP® Clark County Youth Justice program works with program participants ages 8-18 who are justice-involved providing youth with an Advocate who spends a minimum of working three hours a week providing positive support in their academic, career and personal goals. 

“I made some poor choices that resulted in me being placed on juvenile probation,” Paul said. “What started as a requirement, soon became a life-changing opportunity that helped me redirect my path in a positive way.” 

Paul was paired with YAP® Advocate Trilbia Garrett, who spent time with him weekly and encouraged him to pursue his goals while nurturing his strengths. 

“Through YAP, I was paired with an [Advocate] who provided accountability without judgement,” Paul wrote. “This support system helped me develop stronger decision-making skills, resist negative peer pressure and focus on my education. Most importantly, YAP helped me realize that my past does not define my future. The program gave me the confidence and tools I needed to grow and move forward with purpose.” 

 Garrett said Paul was able to maintain his academic and personal responsibilities through determination, maturity, and maintaining a positive attitude. 

“Paul has consistently demonstrated the qualities of leadership, academic dedication, integrity, and perseverance that make him an outstanding candidate for this opportunity,” Garrett wrote in the recommendation letter of Paul. “Throughout the time I have known him, he has shown a strong commitment to personal growth and a genuine desire to make a positive impact on those around him.” 

Paul plans to attend Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in the fall and is thankful to YAP® and the Endowment Fund for helping him pursue his goals. 

“I have no doubt that [Paul]will continue to achieve great things,” Garrett added.  

For more information on YAP, visit yapinc.org. To donate to the Endowment Fund, click here.  

  

Arkansas – The Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. Arkansas Behavioral Health team is not surprised to learn that LaKeitha moved past a time of trouble and crisis to put her life on a positive path. 

“There are certain students you encounter in life who leave a lasting impression – not simply because of their accomplishments, but because of their strength and resilience of their spirt,” said YAP® Arkansas Behavioral Health Program Assistant Director Magigor Love. “Lakeitha is one of those students who overcame personal, behavioral, and mental health challenges.” 

Love worked with Lakeitha when she was referred to YAP® Arkansas’ BH program that provided her with wraparound tools connecting her to economical, emotional and educational support. 

“Facing ongoing family and interpersonal conflict with peers, noncompliance with curfew, aggression and fighting, jail, ankle monitors….[Lakeitha] could have easily allowed circumstances to dictate the outcome of her life. Instead, Lakeitha made a powerful and deeply personal choice to return to school,” Love added. “She completed her high school education at age 16.” 

Love wrote a letter of recommendation for Lakeitha, who received a scholarship through YAP®’s Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education.  She plans to attend cosmetology school in August. 

 The special scholarship is funded by donors, most of whom are YAP® employees and Board of Directors members. Recipients are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarship annually. The award is $1,500 for college or trade school tuition, fees or supplies, or a laptop computer. 

“The scholarship will help me pay or my school expenses, supplies, and also housing,” Lakeitha wrote in her scholarship essay. “My plans are to stay focused and graduate from cosmetology [school] and eventually own a business one day.” 

Referred to YAP® through her probation officer, Lakeitha wrote that she was getting into trouble in school by fighting, leaving school without permission, and not doing her work. Additionally, she said she would miss curfews, not listening to her mother, and failed a drug test. 

YAP® Arkansas uses the Family Centered Treatment method by providing in-home family therapy and community care. FCT also supports YAP®’s wraparound approach to working with youth and their families to set them up for success. YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, education, mental health, and other public systems to deliver its community-based services as a safer, more-effective alternative to placing youth in trouble or crisis in corrections and residential treatment facilities. 

Lakeitha said learned a lot from YAP® and could not have persevered without the love of her mother. 

“I benefited from the program by listening when we talked about ways to control my anger, and how I should walk away and not make bad decisions,” she added. 

Love is excited about Lakeitha’s future. 

“With the support of this scholarship, I am confident that Lakeitha will continue to achieve, grow, and inspire,” Love wrote. “More importantly, she will carry forward resilience, using her story and strength to uplift others who may still be searching for their own path. Supporting her is not only an acknowledgment of how far she has come—it is an investment in the meaningful impact she is destined to make.” 

 YAP® Arkansas serves Benton, Carroll, Clark, Columbia, Crawford, Franklin, Hempstead, Howard, Johnson, Lafayette, Little River, Logan, Madison, Miller, Nevada, Ouachita, Polk, Pope, Scott, Sebastian, Sevier, Union, and Washington counties 

For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org. To donate to the Endowment Fund, click here. 

Dallas County, Texas – Years of bullying, harassment and cyberbullying in high school left Jynee feeling isolated, and without friends and support.  

Her family reached out to Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. in Dallas that offers a Behavioral Health program where she was paired with former YAP® Qualified Mental Health Professional Angela Heggins. 

“[Heggins] became my huge support throughout my high school years,” Jynee wrote in her YAP® Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education application essay. “I believe I have benefited from the program by exploring my identity and self-worth, learning self-love. Additionally, the program helped me with college planning, life readiness and maintaining a positive attitude during high school.”  

In the fall, Jynee begins her freshman year at the University of Texas at Arlington as a first-generation college student where she plans to major in nursing and join the college’s Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program.  

Jynee was encouraged to apply for the Endowment Fund, which is mostly funded by YAP® employees, where beneficiaries are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarship annually. The award is $1,500 for college or trade school tuition, fees or supplies, or a laptop computer. The unique Endowment Fund also received generous donations from the YAP® Board of Directors and other contributors. 

YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems in communities across the U.S. to deliver family-centered, accountability-focused services as an alternative to correctional and residential care facilities. Principles of the nonprofit’s evidence-based alternative-to-placement model are also applied to its work with public safety systems to reduce neighborhood violence. 

YAP® Dallas County’s Behavioral Health Program offers a continuum of mental health to support children and adolescents in their homes, schools and communities. 

YAP®’s services help individuals build resilience and promote healing and mitigate potential negative impacts by connecting youth with supportive adults, providing evidence-based treatments. Aside from Dallas, the Texas program is offered in Austin, Fort Worth, San Antonio and surrounding areas.  

“I am preparing for my college and military goals to successfully become a reality,” Jynee added. “I’m still in communication with my Advocate who has been a huge help throughout the school year and encouraged me to follow my dreams.”  

For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org. To donate to the Endowment Fund, click here.  

Chicago Public Schools Network 17 Chief Dr. Myron L. Hester knows firsthand the value of parental involvement in a child’s education. He was the principal at Julian High School for more than two decades and also served as principal of Bowen High School and Kozminski Community Academy.

“In most cases with students with challenges, it’s something at home. Having someone a young person can depend on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can be transformative,” Dr. Hester said. “Throughout my career, whether serving elementary or high school students, I have consistently prioritized social-emotional learning, family engagement, and wraparound supports for students.”

Dr. Hester was among a group of Chicago leaders recognized at Collaborating for Change: Celebrating 20 Years of Unlocking Positive Futures for Youth and Families in Trouble and Crisis. The June 3 dinner was co-hosted by Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. and the University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs.  Marking YAP®’s 20^th anniversary in Chicago, the event honored young people previously in trouble or in crisis who are turning their lives around. The celebration also recognized YAP®’s Chicago-area government, philanthropic, education, and community partners whose support contributes to the organization’s positive youth and family outcomes.  

Founded in 1975, YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems in communities across the U.S. to deliver family-centered, accountability-focused services as an alternative to correctional and residential care facilities. Principles of the nonprofit’s evidence-based alternative-to-placement model are also applied to its work with public safety systems to reduce neighborhood violence.

Ten years ago, YAP® partnered with Brightpoint to launch Choose to Change®, a program funded by philanthropy, Chicago Public Schools, and the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office that serves Chicago students identified as being at the greatest risk for engaging in violence. Choose to Change® combines intensive individual and family wraparound services with weekly specialized psychotherapy for adolescents responding to chronic stress (SPARCS) sessions.

Under Dr. Hester’s leadership, Julian High School was the first Chicago Public School to implement Choose to Change® services.

“Schools have to communicate with family and here we had trusted adults who came in to fill that gap. It worked out beautifully,” Dr. Hester said. “These programs provide far more than an intervention; they provide students and families with trusted adults, positive role models, and consistent support during some of the most challenging times in their lives. As educators, we know schools cannot do this work alone.”

University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs large-scale randomized controlled trial data found Choose to Change® reduces the number of violent arrests and the likelihood of arrest for a violent offense by 47 percent.

“Strong partnerships between schools, families, and community organizations are essential to helping students succeed academically, socially, and emotionally,” Dr. Hester said. “When we talk about challenges facing young people, the solution is not simply responding to problems after they occur. We must continue investing in programs that connect youth with caring adults, mentoring, mental health supports, and positive opportunities.”

Among YAP®’s Chicago community partners recognized at the anniversary event were Bright Star Pastor Chris Harris, New Life Center’s Matt Mateo, and Autry Phillips at Lifeline to Hope, Inc., leaders of community-based organizations that deliver Choose to Change-informed services. Harris expressed his gratitude for YAP®’s two decades of service and made a $15,000 donation to the nonprofit.

“I have seen firsthand the impact that community partners have had on helping students overcome obstacles and realize their potential. Their work strengthens schools, supports families, and ultimately creates safer, healthier communities for our young people,” Dr. Hester said.

YAP®’s decades of service include working with many young people whose histories include serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements. John Jay College of Criminal Justice research found 86% of YAP®’s youth justice participants remain arrest free, and six – 12 months after completing the program, nearly 90% of the youth still lived in their communities with less than 5% of participants in secure placement. Learn more about YAP® at YAPInc.org.

Essex County, NJ – Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. New Jersey Lead Director Curtis Moore is a former program participant turned employee.

“I am not just the director; I was also a participant,” Moore said. “There were a lot of things I did that I could have done differently when I was growing up.”

One of seven children, Moore was 12 years-old when he started getting into trouble following his parent’s divorce and after his father returned to live in Louisiana where the family is originally from. He was involved in gangs, drug dealing, stealing cars, and in-and-out of residential homes and the youth justice system. Moore was referred to YAP® in 1997. 

“He had a rough teenage road,” said Michael Thomas, who was a corrections officer at the youth detention facility where Moore was located. “He had a great sense of leadership, and he always knew what was happening around him. He was an influencer.”

Moore was in the YAP® Essex County Youth Justice Program for three months, but at age 19 he was sent to prison for manslaughter and served 13 years.

“I didn’t see myself doing anything or living past 18 or 19,” Moore said. “Seven days before my 19th birthday, I was facing 30 years for murder. The judge said to me, ‘I don’t see a monster that the state is saying you are.’ I never forgot that Black man in my life who really spoke life into me and said, ‘I see you, I hear you.’”

YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with youth justice, child welfare, education, mental health, and other public systems to deliver its community-based services as a safer, more-effective alternative to placing youth in trouble or crisis in corrections and residential treatment facilities. YAP® also partners with public safety and school systems to apply principles of its evidence-based individual and family “wraparound services” approach to reduce violence.

YAP® Advocates are trained to deliver wraparound support to program participants and their parents, guardians and other family members. The evidence-based YAPWRAP® services model helps young people see and nurture their strengths and connects them and their families with individualized resources and support.

“My mother said, ‘if this is the lifestyle that you plan on living, you will either be dead or in jail,’” Moore said.

While locked up, Moore was visited by his family and Thomas, who told him that the wrong choices have consequences. In incarceration, Moore received his high school diploma and associate’s degree. After he was released from prison, he earned his bachelor’s degree in social work from New Jersey’s Kean University.

“After he completed his sentence, he came home and was involved in church, and I started mentoring him again,” added Thomas, who is also a YAP Advocate. “He wanted to help kids and do what he could, so he became  involved with YAP.”

Moore said he was asked to share his story and was a motivational speaker to YAP® program participants before officially being hired in 2017 as a part-time Advocate. He soon moved up the ladder by becoming a program coordinator, assistant director, program director and lead director over New Jersey’s youth justice and outreach programs.

“My very first participant was a really difficult 17-year-old when I started working with him,” Moore recalled, adding he still keeps in contact with the youth who has since moved to Alabama. “He didn’t want to engage or do anything. This was so long ago, before some of the systems we have in place now. The company was doing intakes on paper then.”

To-date, Moore believes he has assisted approximately 100 youths, including former program participant Mufee who was in the program in 2015.

“Growing up I didn’t really know any better and I was doing what these young guys do nowadays like being in the streets and doing bad things,” Mufee said. “I was put in the YAP program and that is how I met Mr. Moore.”

Mufee and Moore took him places, allowed him to work with his mobile car wash to help him make money, and encouraged him to stay out of the streets.

“Once I turned 18, I was done with all that bad stuff, and I’ve never been to jail a day in my life,” Mufee said. “I actually moved away from New Jersey, and life is actually going good for me.”

Now 25, Mufee has a 3-year-old daughter, has relocated to Pennsylvania and is seeking employment.

“[Moore] really made me the man I am today,” he added. “He’s a very good mentor.”

Moore has written several books on community engagement and his experiences. He has authored “I Am a Survivor,” “Tears of Soldier,” “The Advocate,” “From Pain to Power,” and “FIRE.” Additionally, he serves on the Essex County Gun Violence Advisory Board and has been asked to speak about the effects of gun violence throughout the state of New Jersey.

“I am really happy with how things worked out for [Moore],” said Thomas, who has worked for YAP® for 22 years. “It’s really about these kids; it’s not about us. [Moore] is one of a thousand that I’ve seen who have impacted these kids’ lives and helped them to make a positive change.”

For Moore, his “why” is because he was a former YAP® participant.

“I am an advocate at heart, not just for kids but for community,” Moore added. “YAP is a community-based driven organization that is motivated by boots on the ground’s services. This work is my passion. I love what I do and people see it. There are so many Curtis’s who don’t make it out.”

For more information on YAP, visit yapinc.org.

Scroll down for photo album

Davenport, IA — A special Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. luncheon recognized the accomplishments of formerly justice-involved Quad Cities youth and those once identified as being at the greatest risk for violence engagement. 

The event, which took place Saturday, May 16, at The Lincoln Resource Center, was an opportunity for YAP®’s government, philanthropic, and community partners to engage with young people who have benefited from their support of the nonprofit’s work.

Davenport YAP® Advocate David Hines led a panel discussion with former program participants, J’Ciana, Fletcher, and Brennan. The young people also received achievement awards for reaching milestones established in their individualized service plans. Brennan, 15, who served as the event’s featured speaker, said he hesitated to share his story, but that based on how much Hines, who served as his YAP® Advocate, did for him, “I couldn’t say ‘no,’” he said.

“I was 13 when I started making the kinds of decisions that got me locked up,” Brennan said. “At the time, I was a desperate, scared and very hungry boy.”

He told the audience he and his younger brother spent their childhood bouncing from relative to relative, whom he described as having “their own adult problems.”

“So as an adolescent, I had a lot of things to worry about. Things like where am I going to sleep? Where am I going to eat? What do I have to do to survive? Will I be safe?” And so yes, I did what most of you believe you’d never do. I stole food and sometimes money. And I ended up locked up.”

YAP® is a 50-year-old national nonprofit in 31 states and Washington, D.C. that brought its unique family-based, accountability-focused services to Davenport in 2023. The nonprofit partners with youth justice, child welfare, education, mental health, and other public systems to deliver its community-based services as a safer, more-effective alternative to placing youth in trouble or crisis in corrections and residential treatment facilities. YAP® also partners with public safety and school systems to apply principles of its evidence-based individual and family “wraparound services” approach to reduce violence.YAP® Iowa Program Director Michael A. Cole said Quad Cities youth are referred to the nonprofit by county and state youth justice systems and Davenport public schools. 

 “Sustaining and expanding its Quad Cities reach requires government referral partnerships, philanthropic and corporate funding, and continued community collaborations,” Cole said.

Brennan said he had to remain at the detention facility when he completed his time there because he had nowhere to go. He said things began to change in a positive direction when YAP® Advocate David Hines showed up.

“David worked with the social workers to find an adult in my family, willing to take me in. And then when my cousin Jeremy stepped up, David showed up for him, too,” Brennan said. “So today, I’m happy to say that I’m part of a family. I am seeing my strengths. And I’m getting even stronger. I know I’m a smart, mouthy kid who is going places. And thanks to David and Jeremy and YAP® and the foundation I’m building from everything I’ve been through, there’s no stopping me.”

Backed by donor funding, 71 Davenport youth and their parents/guardians have benefitted from YAP®’s intensive youth and family wraparound services.

“Today is a tribute to Quad Cities residents who as youths faced complex challenges and are now working to turn their lives around,” said YAP® Chief Program Officer David Williams. “Your presence here this afternoon means you are committed to being a part of a community that strengthens lives and makes communities safer.”

The nonprofit’s community-based Advocates and mental health professionals are trained to help young people identify and nurture their strengths. Staff simultaneously connect the youth and their parents or guardians with individualized educational, economic, and emotional needs tools to firm their family foundation. Davenport program participants benefit from the nonprofit’s YAP Pursuing Excellence® model, which combines YAP® wraparound services with specialized psychotherapy for adolescents exposed to chronic stress (SPARCS), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy.

“Our services are family-led and accountability-focused,” Williams said.

Community leaders and partners who support YAP’s work who were recognized at the event include:

• Tracy Singleton, Lincoln Resource Center Executive Director Rev. Rogers Kirk, Jr., President and CEO of Together Making a Better Community — TMBC
• Shirleen Martin, representing Davenport NAACP Metrocom Branch President Michael Guster
• Kennon Neal and Jason Otten with Unity Point Center for Alcohol and Drug Services
• Rodney Tatum and Machelle Pemberton, YAP’s Davenport Peace, Juvenile Court School liaisons
• Matt McDowell, who provided mentorship opportunities for young people including asking them to read to summer camp participants here at the Lincoln Resource Center
• Avery Pearl, Assistant Director at the Lincoln Resource Center
• Cherie Henningsen and Nina Laughlin, Unity Point Robert Young Mental Health

Cole and his team also recognized Yolanda Jefferson at Blck Pearl Catering; Kayla Babers with KB Photography; and Morgan Payne with 1814 Event Services.

Among the luncheon attendees were Grinnell College’s VP for Community Engagement and Strategic Planning Monica Chavez-Silva. Monica, who recently joined YAP’s national board of directors. National YAP leaders joining the Quad Cities community leaders included, YAP Chief Program Officer Dave Williams, Chief Operations Officer Joanne Troutman, Vice President of Philanthropy Greg Hollback, Regional Vice President Jamaal Crawford; and Regional Director E’Ron Leveston. In addition to Cole and Hines, YAP Iowa staffers at the event included Alicia Berry Morgan, LaToya Lewis, and Shanda Burrage.

About Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc.: Founded by Tom Jeffers in 1975, YAP collaborates with community and public systems backed by philanthropic funders to deliver four signature programs: Youth and Family Empowerment, Bringing Systems Change, Global Capacity Building, and Investing in Economic Mobility. YAP®’s decades of service include working with many young people whose histories include serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements. John Jay College of Criminal Justice research found 86% of YAP®’s youth justice participants remain arrest free, and six – 12 months after completing the program, nearly 90% of the youth still lived in their communities with less than 5% of participants in secure placement. Learn more about YAP and how you can support the national nonprofit’s work at YAPInc.org. 

Join the Movement on June 11

By Kleo Bello

Kleo Bello is from Albania and is a 2026 Global Fellow of Youth Advocate Programs, (YAP®) in Cook County, Ill., through the Community Engagement Exchange (CEE) program. YAP® has been participating in Outdoor Office Day since 2021.

As cities continue to grow and people spend more time indoors, a global movement is encouraging workers to reconnect with nature. Outdoor Office Day, founded by Ioana Biris in the Netherlands, promotes the idea of taking work outside, even if only for one day each year.

“It is time to have the conversation about how we work and what we need to feel inspired, productive and connected,” said Biris, who is also a social psychologist and co-owner of Nature Desks. “Both the frantic pace of the modern world and the recent figures about the increasing number of hours we spend in front of our screens or sitting, should make us all rethink the relationship we have with work.”

The initiative was created from a simple but powerful idea that people should work closer to nature. According to the concept behind Outdoor Office Day, modern lifestyles keep individuals surrounded by screens, offices, and urban environments for most of their daily lives. Today, more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and this number is expected to increase in the future. Because of this, the founder of this movement believes that reconnecting with outdoor spaces is becoming increasingly important.

The movement has inspired many organizations across different sectors to embrace the concept. Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc., has been among the organizations participating in Outdoor Office Day, using the occasion to bring work outdoors and promote healthier, more engaging work environments. Outdoor Office Day is a lovely collaboration between the YAP®’s Safety and Wellness Committee, which shares pertinent information internally with employees, and the YAP® Global Community that includes sister organizations in Ireland, Australia, Sierra Leone and Guatemala.

A national nonprofit, YAP® partners with public systems to provide individual and family wraparound and mental health services as an alternative to placing young people in trouble or crisis in residential care/treatment and corrections facilities. YAP®’s decades of service include working with many young people whose histories include serious offenses, multiple arrests, and lengthy out-of-home placements.

Founded in 2019, Outdoor Office Day encourages companies, students, and workers to step outside traditional office structures and experience a different working atmosphere. The movement highlights how open-air environments can positively influence workplace culture, employee engagement, creativity, and overall well-being.

Research connected to nature and wellness also supports many of these ideas. Spending time outdoors has been associated with reduced stress levels, better focus, improved sleep quality, stronger social interaction, and enhanced creativity. The founder also argues that even small changes such as holding meetings outside, working in parks, or creating greener workspaces, can have a meaningful impact on mental health and productivity.

Outdoor Office Day will take place this year on June 11, when organizations and individuals around the world are encouraged to step outside their usual workplaces and reconnect with nature. YAP®’s continued involvement demonstrates how organizations dedicated to youth development and community engagement recognize the value of outdoor environments in supporting collaboration, creativity, and overall well-being. Through its participation, YAP® reinforces the idea that productive and meaningful work can happen beyond the walls of a traditional office.

“YAP Ireland often has rain but they get out their umbrellas for a walking meeting,” said YAP®’s Vice President of International Development Diana Matteson. “Whether its outdoor spaces at local libraries, porches, back yards, next to ponds with ducks and near chicken coops, community gardens, botanic gardens, public parks, on rooftops, taking over a parking space to make an outdoor office for a day, the YAP community never lacks for innovation and creative approaches whether its Outdoor Office Day or how we work with young people, families, and communities.”

The concept is not about completely replacing offices but about rethinking how work environments affect people. Organizers emphasize that workplaces should become more flexible, human-centered, and connected to wellness. Outdoor Office Day ultimately sends a simple message; sometimes productivity does not come from staying inside longer, but from stepping outside and allowing nature to become part of everyday life.

For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org. Click the link to learn more about Outdoor Office Day.

Kleo Bello is a dedicated journalist and advocate for social change from a small town in Albania. With a background in journalism, he has a deep passion for using media and storytelling to raise awareness about pressing societal issues, particularly domestic violence and poverty. Kleo’s work as an investigative journalist for the TV program Without Trace has allowed him to shed light on child labor challenges and those driving positive change in his community. His commitment extends beyond journalism, as he is also actively involved in a non-profit organization focusing on youth engagement and environmental protection, exemplified by his role in organizing the Vjosa N’Fest festival to raise awareness for the Vjosa River.

Kankakee, Illinois — A successful Kankakee, Ill. business owner and family man, LaVail’s life is far from what he experienced as a child.

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side, neglect, abuse, and physical and emotional pain were the norm for him and his two sisters and eight brothers, one of them his twin brother.

“My mom was 16 when she had my twin and me. She was abused by her auntie and grandma, and she was abusive to us.”

LaVail said he was frequently exposed to violence at home and sexual abuse when he was staying nights with a relative. He said chaos was the norm.

“We were whipped with cords, irons, you name it,” he said. “We went to school like that and that’s how we got taken away.”

LaVail said when he was 11, his mother went to jail and after a short stay with a family member, he went into the foster care system. Initially, he and his twin brother were together with a Chicago family, but eventually, all of his brothers and sisters were were in different foster or group homes throughout the state. He said through Lutheran Family Services, he stayed in contact with his siblings.

“We had family visits once or twice a month,” he said.

LaVail said by age 15, he was with nine or ten foster families before ending up in a group home in Kankakee, 60 miles south of the city.

A few months later, he and some of his friends found themselves in trouble.

“We saw a running car and no driver,” he said. “We took stuff out and ended up going to jail.”

Charged with burglary, Lavail spent the next 18 months in a youth detention facility in St. Charles. When it was time for him to leave the facility, he had nowhere to call home.

“One of my aunts let me stay on her couch, but said it could only be for a short time,” he recalled.

That’s when Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. came into his life. Supported by philanthropy, the 50-year-old national nonprofit partners with youth justice, child welfare, and other systems to deliver community-based services as an alternative to incarcerating or placing youth in trouble or crisis in corrections and residential care/treatment facilities. Celebrating 20 years in Chicago, YAP®’s individual and family wraparound services adhere to principles of its unique evidence-based, unconditional caring approach. Central to the model is the nonprofit’s “no-reject, no-eject” policy.

When LaVail was in St. Charles, YAP® opened a Chicago office and partnered with Lutheran Family Services to deliver individual and family wraparound services to child welfare and youth justice-involved youth. Services included connecting kids like LaVail with kinship guardians.

YAP®’s evidence-based family-and accountability-centered services adhere to unique unconditional caring guiding principles that include a “no reject, no eject” policy. The nonprofit’s community-based employee Advocates and mental health professionals connect program participants and their parents or guardians with individualized economic, educational, and emotional needs services to help them thrive and firm their family foundation.

“When I came home, a man from the YAP® office told me about the program,” LaVail said, adding that he was skeptical at first. “Then one day, ‘Big Homie’ came. This big dude gets out of this little SUV. I ran out back, took off,” he added.

Big Homie is what LaVail affectionately called Antoine McNutt, one of YAP®’s first Chicago Advocates who delivered services to hundreds of young people before his death in 2022. LaVail said McNutt was relentless.

“He came by every day. And when I saw him roll up, I ran out back, took off, every time,” LaVail said. “Then one day when I ran out the back, he was standing right there.”

LaVail said he was terrified.

“I told him, ‘I ain’t going back to jail.,’ He said ‘I ain’t taking you to jail. I’m from YAP,’” LaVail recalled. “He told me, ‘I’m here to help,’ and then said, ‘You look hungry.’”

Not long after that they were at a nearby sandwich shop where they ate and LaVail spoke to the manager about getting him a job.

“He immediately showed me that I could trust him,” LaVail said.

Over the next few days, McNutt took him clothes shopping and eventually worked with his case worker to provide the support his aunt needed to become his guardian. In the coming months, McNutt helped LaVail and his twin brother, who was also in Kankakee, find jobs in Chicago closer to their other siblings. Through YAP’s Economic Mobility program, he also provided them with bus passes to get back and forth.

“Big Homie was thorough. He didn’t let up on you,” Lavail said. “When he saw I was hanging out with someone he didn’t feel good about, he’d tell me and would let that person know that when they were ready, he’d be there for them, too.”

LaVail remembers McNutt taking him and his twin brother to Bible study and church and encouraging them to take GED prep classes at Kennedy King College. He said along the way, McNutt found a way for them to complete classes and test to earn their high school diploma.

A pivotal moment for LaVail was when McNutt got him a part-time job sweeping and cleaning up at a Chicago barbershop.

“It was at 83^rd and Colfax. That’s when I decided I wanted to cut hair,” he said. “After some time, I talked to the barber and told him and Big Homie I want to cut hair. That same week, McNutt signed me up at Larry’s Barber College.”

Lavail said getting his life on the straight and narrow involved some obstacles and backsliding. Still McNutt never wavered.

“I had one foot in and one foot out, still smoking weed and drinking,” LaVail said. “Big Homie would send a lawyer, but he didn’t play. He was like a father, really.”

Eventually, the days in church led to LaVail committing to making positive change in his life – with no turning back.

“I got saved, turned my life over to God,” he said.

In 2017, LaVail started his own barber business, leasing a space in a Kankekee shop from an established barber who knew that people were standing in line outside Lavail’s apartment in the projects to get haircuts.

After two years, he opened three shops of his own and started a family. He is determined to give his two boys and two girls the childhood he didn’t have. He often shares stories and lessons with them from his past.

“To this day, I tell my kids stories about Big Homie,” he said.

As part of centering family values, LaVail reconnected and has reconstructed his relationship with his mother. He moved her to Kankakee not far from his home, providing an opportunity for her to be near him and her grandchildren.

Learn more about YAP and how you can support the organization’s work at www.yapinc.org.

Northern Maryland – When J’Von became a program participant with Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. in Northern Maryland he was looking for structure, accountability, and positive support to help get his future back on the right path.

“Through my involvement with YAP, I have been given the opportunity to develop better habits, take responsibility for my actions, and stay focused on my goals,” J’Von wrote. “The guidance, resources, and consistent support I have received have played a major role in helping me move in a positive direction.”

J’Von is a recipient of the Tom Jeffers Endowment Fund for Continuing Education that supports his plans to study Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) at Lincoln Tech, a trade school. Thanks to donors – most of whom are YAP® employees – beneficiaries are eligible to apply for and receive the nonprofit’s scholarship annually. The award is $1,500 for college or trade school tuition, fees or supplies, or a laptop computer. The unique Endowment Fund also received generous donations from the YAP® Board of Directors and other contributors.

A national nonprofit, YAP® partners with public systems to provide individual and family wraparound and mental health services as an alternative to placing young people in trouble or crisis in residential care/treatment and corrections facilities. YAP® Advocates are trained to provide intensive mentoring that helps youth realize their strengths while connecting them and their parents with economic, emotional and educational resources to firm their foundation and help them succeed.

Since November 2025, 18-year-old J’Von has been involved with YAP® Northern Maryland’s Youth Justice Program, where he was connected with a community-based Advocate and other staff who helped guide him into making better decisions after he got into some trouble. J’Von’s former Advocate said he also started attending church, going to the gym regularly, and is actively seeking employment as he understands the benefits of becoming independent, making an effort and taking accountability.

“[YAP staff] have supported me emotionally, physically, and financially on a daily and weekly basis,” J’Von wrote in his Endowment essay. “The program has helped me grow into a more disciplined and motivated young man.”

J’Von also earned valuable skills through YAPWORX® the organization’s workforce development program, which is designed for young people who face employment barriers helping them to earn a paycheck as they acquire job training skills.

“As part of his involvement in YAPWORX, J’Von successfully fulfilled court-ordered requirements, including paying off his restitution,” YAP® Northern Maryland Administrative Manager Jasmine Sawyers wrote in her recommendation letter for J’Von. “He approached this responsibility with consistency, accountability, and a willingness to grow. Throughout the process, he remained receptive to guidance, met expectations, and demonstrated a strong commitment to making positive choices and moving forward.”

Sawyers described J’Von as a consistent and focused person with “strong character, accountability, and a clear commitment to his future.”

“J’Von is a respectful, patient, and cooperative young man who engages well with both staff and peers,” Sawyers wrote. “He contributes to a positive environment and carries himself with maturity. His work ethic is evident not only in how he shows up, but in how he follows through. He is intentional about building a better future for himself.”

J’Von said he is fully committed to excelling at Lincoln Tech.

“I intend to remain focused, dedicated, and disciplined in my coursework, and I am confident that I will succeed in my HVAC program,” he added. “I am highly motivated to pursue this field because it offers a stable, in-demand career that will allow me to build a better future for myself and family.”

For more information on YAP®, visit yapinc.org. To make a contribution to the Endowment Fund, click here.