About Project Youth+
Project Youth+ prepares low-income, first-generation and underrepresented youth to thrive in school, college and careers.
We use resilience-development strategies that are personalized to meet the strengths, preferences, and challenges of each individual.
Our Project Youth+ advisors provide long-term school outreach services year-round to build healthy relationships, establish a college-going peer culture, promote academic excellence, introduce key success skills, and facilitate interactive group activities from a grade-by-grade College & Career Preparation Curriculum.
Based in Grants Pass, Oregon, we serve youth in Josephine, Jackson, and Douglas Counties with funding from school districts, state and federal contracts, private and corporate grants, and individual and business donors.
Project Youth+ alumni who enter college boast a six-year BA/BS completion rate of 80%, well above the national 55%-60% average for all students, and far above the 11% benchmark for low-income, first-generation students.
The organization was founded in 1998 as College Dreams, a pilot substance abuse prevention program for 33 sixth-grade students with multiple risk factors for school dropout.
Two decades later, the nonprofit annually serves more than 1,500 youth aged 11-24. Nowadays, many participants forego the traditional college path to instead seek career coaching, paid work experience and occupational skills training. In 2020, the nonprofit changed its name to Project Youth+ to reflect the many paths youth may take to prepare for a successful career.
Youth+ Stories
“Project Youth+ is the best anti-poverty program I know of.”