On December 15th the Strategy Team of the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) voted to approve DC Youth Power Network (YPN) as a formal project of WIN. In practice, YPN will become the youth organizing arm of WIN, allowing YPN’s youth-focused member institutions the opportunity to organize together with WIN’s member congregations.

This is a very exciting development, because YPN is now part of an organization that has a 15-year track record of building long-term power and getting results. To learn more about WIN’s powerful organizing work, check out their website: www.windc-iaf.org

On November 15th, YPN partnered with WIN to conduct a large bus tour of the three sites along the lower-Gerogia Avenue corridor where we are organizing for improved recreation facilities and programs. The tour was led by youth leaders from YPN and adult leaders from WIN. Over 120 youth and adults from WIN congregations, local civic groups, youth organizations, schools, and neighborhood leaders came out in force. The goal of the bus tour was to generate support for our campaigns and build momentum towards meetings with local elected officials where YPN will ask them to fully endorse and fund our short-term Rec Center campaign demands.

GET ON THE BUS FOR DC’S YOUTH!

Recreation Centers + Affordable Housing = Justice!
DC Youth Power Network (YPN) and the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) invite you on a special youth-led bus tour of the sites in the lower-Georgia Avenue corridor where we are organizing for new Recreation Centers and permanent supportive housing for DC’s homeless residents. Support young leaders fighting for a brighter tomorrow for DC’s youth!

Sunday, November 15th

To accommodate for different church service times, we’ve organized two separate tours. Both will start and end outside the Georgia Ave – Petworth Metro Station, and each tour will last 90 minutes. Tour 1 starts at 1pm. Tour 2 starts at 3pm.

Please email your RSVP to james.ypn@gmail.com no later than Friday, November 6th. Include which tour you plan to attend and the names of the people who will be joining you. Feel free to bring friends, family, or colleagues. Click here to download the flyer.

Earlier this month, YPN sent out it’s first newsletter. Click here to download the pdf.

If you would like to sign up to receive ypn’s e-newsletter, click here.

Recently, YPN kicked off a “house meeting” campaign with teens at youth-serving institutions in Wards 1, 2, and 4. House meetings are hour-long structured dialog sessions with groups of 10-15 youth that allow youth to identify local issues that they are interested in taking action on. By August 31st over 125 teens will have participated in this process.

Through these meetings we have developed our first core issues: making improvements at three local recreation centers and expanding job opportunities for youth.

In October YPN will sending a group of seven youth and adults to an intensive three-day community organizing training in Baltimore, led by the Industrial Areas Foundation. More information will be posted soon.

Earlier this month, DC Youth Power Network (YPN) and Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) brought 40 youth and youth workers to meet with a group of teen leaders from WIN’s sister organization in Baltimore, BUILD. In addition to talking with BUILD’s teens about their powerful community organizing work, we did a walk-through of Darley Park, the site where a brand-new million dollar recreation will soon be built (see photo below), the result of BUILD’s recent teen-led campaign. We also got to tour one of the beautiful new affordable homes BUILD created in the Oliver neighborhood of East Baltimore.

On Thursday, June 25th roughly 50 youth workers, teachers, and coaches came together at All Souls Unitarian Church for a training and discussion about building youth-led power in Ward 1. The session, led by DC Youth Power Network (YPN), in collaboration with Washington Interfaith Network (WIN), sparked lots of lively discussion and interest in YPN’s work.

Several participants volunteered to spearhead planning for the next steps. Over the next 30 days, we will conduct feedback sessions about YPN’s plans with groups of youth at each youth-serving institution; hold house meetings with at least 125 youth; take the info from the house meetings, surface a small-scale local issue, run a short-burst campaign, and get a victory; and organize a trip to Baltimore to meet the teen organizers from BUILD, WIN’s sister organization.

Below are a few photos from the session on June 25th. Enjoy!