YES! Youth Empowerment Strategies in Shelton, Washington
Y E S !
at the
Mason Transit Community Center
Youth Empowerment Strategies is an adult facilitated peer mentoring program based at the Mason Transit Community Center (the old armory) in downtown Shelton, Washington. The YES programs emphasize experiential learning through strength based skill building activities to meet the developmental needs of young people and to include them in projects that connect them with their community through meaningful service work and entrepreneurial enterprise. We design programs to accommodate many kinds of intelligence and talent at a broad range of skill levels.
YES programs include video documentary production, a youth run recording studio, a greenhouse horticulture project that includes visiting a local convalescence center to offer plants to elders, participation in community garden projects and a youth run bicycle shop.
the YES Digital Media Studio
There are currently several CD projects being recorded for local bands as well as ongoing documentary videos being produced by young people.
Many aspects of the ongoing YES Programs have also been filmed by youth participating in the YES Digital Media Studio. The videos are shot, edited, and produced by youth, under supervision of a professional media producer. The videos are periodically aired on Hood Canal Communications’ Channel 46.
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The Emancipation Station
resource center and conversation cafe
“The Emancipation Station Resource Center & Café” Adjacent to the Technology Center is a donation based “self serve” café. “The Emancipation Station” offers a place to enjoy a meal, meet with peers, tutors and mentors, study, fill out paperwork and to connect to resources. The café users cook for and serve themselves as well as clean up after themselves. Patrons can also make freshly baked bread using the cafes’ bread machine . This is an opportunity to engage in practicing life skills not readily available to youth that are homeless or living in inadequate circumstances. There are GED study books available as well as games and light reading.
Our Hours
Monday through Thursday
10am to 4pm
Take a Bus!
We are located downtown
in the old Armory
at the Transit Center
601 Franklin St Shelton, WA 98584.
across the street from the Safeway store
Hope to hear from you soon!
The “YES Re-cycle” Bike Shop
The “YES Re-cycle” Bike Shop, is a Youth Entrepreneurship program started in the summer of 2009, in conjunction with ESD 113 and Mason County Youth Programs. This start-up bike shop collects used and broken bikes furnished by the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and the community to refurbish and give to needy community members. The bike shop employs youth, under supervision, to repair, rebuild, and recycle the bikes.
In the future, we plan to turn this into a for-profit operation, managed and operated by youth. This would provide hands-on skills in not just bike repair, but also in what it takes to operate a small business.
This summer the bike shop will continue collecting and fixing up bikes to give away to the community. We have already distributed close to 100 bikes..
Cultivating Connections
The Cultivating Connections Project utilizes a greenhouse at Fir Lane Health & Rehabilitation Center to teach basic greenhouse cultivation skills to youth, who grow plant starts from cuttings, and then distribute these to residents of the convalescence center.
Join us!
If you would like to sign up for time in our computer center as a user, mentor or tutor please contact us at info@yestechmentoring.org
or (253)549-6386