H.E.A.L.T.H For Youths

H.E.A.L.T. H for Youths (H.E.A.L.T.H.Y) was formed for the charitable and educational purposes of assisting at-risk youth, combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency, and improving the quality of education, health care and life-skills training offered to underserved adolescents and young adults. For the past year, H.E.A.L.T. H for Youths has disproved the myths and assumptions about educating and providing services for students from underserved populations. H.E.A.L.T. H for Youths began its work with high school seniors and college students in December 2009. Today, H.E.A.L.T. H .Y students are pursuing their dreams at some of our nation’s finest colleges. Most importantly, as a result of their participation in the program each student is actively redefining their career and life goals. H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths recognizes that every year, approximately 1.5 million high school students will never earn a college degree despite having the necessary academic requirements and that the majority of these students come from underserved populations and low-income households. In addition to underserved students, H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths specifically targets working with African- American and Latino students to address the fact that less than 17% of African American and Latino students will finish high school and graduate from college. Internship/College and Graduate School Readiness H.E.A.L.T.H for Youths offers the opportunity to expose high school seniors and college students to a vast array of careers through internship placements that emphasize the importance of a college education, career aspirations and professional skills. H.E.A.L.T.H.Y students participate in summer and yearling internships in fields that include advertising, finance, healthcare, law and journalism. By working with a range of employees within their respective host organizations, our students gain real-life exposure to dismal facts about the alternatives to earning a college degree (for example, a college graduate earns approximately $1 million more than a high school graduate). Community Service In addition to the programs mentioned above, each student has a community service project requirement. Some of the projects students have done include a soup kitchen project, a dog run project, a park and community clean-up project. We have approached organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the NY Blood Center to perform community outreach work with them.