Youth Action

After eight years of planning, HELP of Southern Nevada has opened their new location of the Shannon West Homeless Youth Center on July 14 on Flamingo Road. The new 37,000 square-foot center provides services to youth at no cost and the residential and day programming enables youth to learn skills necessary to succeed as adults.

Companies are focusing more on the power of purpose and mission to engage their employees and help create a corporate culture that is compelling to today’s diverse and socially conscious workforce. This translates into changes in the tactics and execution of what a mission-driven organization looks like. For instance, charitable efforts have evolved from annual fundraising campaigns to a people-centric approach to Goodness, with year-round giving and volunteering programs that allow employees to choose which charity they support. With this, they’re seeing employees who are far more engaged, loyal and productive.

Robert McGhee, vice president of community development at Citi, has been a part of the Chicago banking community for more than two decades, with roles in retail banking, mortgage banking and community affairs. He supports the Citi Foundation’s partnership with Points of Light and the Corporation for National and Community Service to bring a groundbreaking initiative, ServiceWorks, to help underserved youth in U.S. cities where the economic downturn has intensified their struggles.

Chelsea Yates, an ambitious 11-year-old, has jump-started a movement to remind people that littering around public storm drains negatively effects the environment -- namely, marine life -- by posting notices on roadside storm drains in Brunswick, Georgia.

Did you know that not all adoption finalizations happen in a courtroom? There are many circumstances that could lead to a finalization happening at home, over the phone! That’s exactly how it happened for the Buchanan family when they adopted Heather.

Imagine growing up in foster care and never being adopted. You start your life as an 18 year old on your own and build a family of your own. What’s the next step? For Nichole, it was adopting an older child from foster care to ensure that he had the love and support as an adult that she didn’t have.

Chris was in and out of foster care before being referred to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s Wendy's Wonderful Kids program. This program finds loving, permanent homes for children who have been waiting in foster care the longest.

Brittany Agee is well on her way toward achieving her dream of becoming a social worker. This summer, the former GM Student Corps high school intern — who’s now a junior at Alabama State University — is returning as a college intern and mentor to help other students see their potential.

Two years ago, Elizabeth Klosky was brainstorming ideas with her father on what to do for her Girl Scouts Gold Award project when she had the idea to do something to protect bees. She and her father had just begun to keep bees in the yard, but when she realized how important they were to the environment – and that certain bee populations around the world were struggling – she wanted to help.