Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)
1650 Main Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15215
412.782.5344
YEP is a free out-of-school time program and summer enrichment camp. Designed to promote positive youth development, YEP prioritizes youth voice and choice in a safe space that provides enriching activities and fosters healthy connections between youth and adults. Youth and families from all neighborhoods are welcome to enroll. There are no income guidelines.
Youth Empowerment Project
- Out-of-School-Time Programming for youth (K-12)
- K-12 Summer Camp
- Youth Employment/Teen Jobs program
- Snacks and Meals
- Scholarship Program
- Community Service Hours (available for youth with court-ordered hours and for graduation requirements)
- Main Street Screen Works
- Parent/Family Support (including community health)
School year hours: Monday through Friday, 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Summer camp hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Field trips may be outside of those hours.
Caring adult volunteers are needed for mentoring and tutoring in reading and math, offering homework help, STEAM activities, financial literacy, career workshops, working with arts and crafts, and more. Adult chaperones for field trips and community service activities are always appreciated.
Main Street Screen Works
Main Street Screen Works is a student-run, student-led screen-printing business that provides hands-on experience and training in screen printing and running a small business!
The Youth Empowerment Project encourages you to place your screen print orders with Main Street Screen Works. You can submit your own design, and pick from t-shirts, bags, aprons, and more. Your Main Street Screen Works order supports vulnerable students, as 100% of profits go to support the Youth Empowerment Project of Sharpsburg’s many programs.
If you have any questions or would like to place an order, please contact mainstreetscreenworks@voapa.org.
YEP Scholarship
YEP’s scholarship fund was established to encourage students to pursue continuing education and career readiness options after high school.
Scholarship amounts are unique to each YEP Scholar and can vary from year to year. If all requirements are met, the scholar is eligible and welcome to apply annually to renew the scholarship through the duration of the scholar’s academic program (generally four academic years).
In order to apply for this scholarship, you must:
- complete the YEP application (online or paper)
- have a GPA of at least 2.5
- provide high school or most recent college transcripts
- have participated in YEP for at least two (2) years or two (2) summer sessions
- be planning to begin your post high school education (i.e. college, trade school) in the next year
- have applied for alternative funding (i.e. FAFSA, grants, and scholarships etc.)
Thanks to the support of Niagra cares, children at the Youth Empowerment Program have been able to thrive!
YEP is a free, out-of-school-time program and summer enrichment camp of VOAPA in the borough of Sharpsburg. Since 1996, our program has provided participants with opportunities to counter their community’s struggle with fun and enriching summer and after-school experiences, field trips, tutoring, homework help, meals and caring adult supervision. We serve youth ages 5-18, from Sharpsburg and increasingly from Millvale and Etna. We aim to support the young people in our care with positive experiences that equip them to choose healthy behaviors, build positive relationships with their peers and succeed in school and in life. Our work is essential in helping children and teens achieve their full potential while in school and beyond.
YEP has four areas of focus: youth leadership, civic engagement, school and career readiness, and arts and the environment.
To register for our programs, click here.