YOUTH VOLUNTEER CORPS OF HAMPTON ROADS INC

Youth Volunteer Corps of Hampton Roads (YVCHR) engages youth in team-based service experiences that build life and work skills while inspiring a lifetime ethic of service. We’re an affiliate of the international Youth Volunteer Corps organization (headquartered in Kansas City) but maintain an independent nonprofit status, our own board of directors, operating budget, and articles of incorporation.

Since 2009, over 5,100 area youth volunteers (ages 11-18) have contributed more than 106,000 hours of service in partnership with dozens of host organizations and addressing a variety of local needs. Recruited from public, private and homeschool populations, our youth volunteers reflect the racial and socio-economic diversity of the community. This rich mix of participants adds depth to each young person’s volunteer experience and enhances their appreciation for diversity, teamwork and civic responsibility.

Our trained and vetted Team Leaders facilitate these service-learning experiences during
out-of-school time for teens--including evenings, weekends, and summertime. We also partner with local schools to provide in-school and after-school programs, which provides greater access to those with limited transportation and other barriers. Each experience includes a hands-on project and an accompanying lesson to teach youth how their action, advocacy and awareness efforts will impact community members and advance the mission of the host nonprofit. From addressing food insecurity and housing to caring for individuals with special needs, the elderly, and the environment, our partnerships provide youth with opportunities to engage in the HEART work and the HARD work of volunteering, all while teaching critical work and life skills. These alliances with other local organizations provide our youth the ability to provide direct services to a wide variety of community members in need, including veterans, seniors, the disabled, the unhoused, the hungry, and more!

YVCHR programs:

-Our robust calendar of episodic service projects allows youth volunteers to serve with flexibility around their academic and extracurricular commitments; all projects are facilitated by YVCHR staff and are provided at no charge.

-Summer camps enable youth to participate in a 4-day, intensive service-learning experience with a different strategic focus and learning objective at each host site.

-School clubs provide opportunities for youth-led initiatives where students develop, plan and lead projects at their school site and in nearby neighborhoods.

-YVCHR's Canstructure Competition is an annual community event generating thousands of pounds in food donations for the local food bank and engaging hundreds of students from grades K-12 in a STEM challenge; teams build 3-dimensional, themed structures from canned food using engineering concepts, teamwork and creativity and present their CANstructure to a panel of judges.

-Service Through STEM is our in-school service-learning program for students in the cities of Newport News and Hampton that activates high school students as near-peer mentors to elementary children via hands-on STEM challenges throughout the academic year.