Build a youth center from the ground up

Start with an empty building, limited funds, and an organization with plenty of room to grow.

Develop your youth center as you see fit and see what happens - maybe your priorities are realigned. Add offices, classrooms, digital spaces, arts facilities and other activity areas. Equip them, and gradually turn an empty building into a functioning community hub for youth.

But a youth center is more than its rooms...

Develop the organization behind it

Hire staff: administrators, facilitators, mentors and support personnel, each helping the organization operate and develop in different ways.

Build your capacity across areas such as: digital skills, STEM, culture, civic participation, entrepreneurship, sport and personal development. Manage finances, upkeep and staff wellbeing while deciding where your limited resources will have the greatest impact to keep things afloat.

Better facilities can help your staff. Better staff can open new opportunities. And stronger organizational capacity allows you to take on more ambitious work.

Find funding and run projects

Projects are one of the main ways to finance and develop your youth center.

Search for opportunities, meet their organizational requirements and prepare real grant applications. Successful projects bring funding, but also commitments: activities to organize, young people to engage, workshops to deliver, partners to involve and other measurable outcomes to achieve.

Deal with what happens along the way

Staff issues, facility problems, scheduled activities, project-related situations and unexpected events will force you to react and make decisions. Some problems can be prevented through good staffing and amenities; others simply have to be dealt with as they show up.

It's your choice what kind of youth center you'll be running

Maybe you invest early in digital facilities. Or you are more of a sports buff and want to focus on sports. Maybe art? You decide.

Build a strong team of facilitators. Improve staff conditions before expanding. Chase funding develop your organization through partnerships and smaller activities. Again, your choice, your strategy - see what works and what doesn't and you'll learn from it.

Build the space. Develop the team. Win projects. Deliver activities. Grow your impact and survive for 36 months!