Youth Engagement & Action in Hamilton (YEAH) is a city-wide collaborative that seeks to guide and improve youth engagement in Hamilton. YEAH connects individual youth and groups of young people to each other and to opportunities for community involvement that are youth-led and youth-directed.  
 
In addition to supporting youth project work based on issues that youth identify, we are focusing on "vamping up" the involvement of youth in the decision-making process at all levels and in all sectors.

YEAH facilitates connections, offers support for the engagement of youth, and provides youth with opportunities for meaningful participation in Hamilton. Through making youth opportunities more accessible, facilitating and helping youth implement larger youth-led projects, providing support to existing and newly forming groups of youth, informing the youth-serving community about how to engage youth more effectively, and establishing a movement toward becoming a youth-friendly community, we are working toward creating the necessary conditions for youth involvement.

YEAH’s current engagement strategy is to: 
 
Support the Hamilton Youth Arts Network - an open and inclusive group of youth, local artists, and caring adults who work together to improve the accessibility of youth opportunities in the arts and design and implement youth-led art projects throughout Hamilton.

Facilitate and support neighbourhood youth engagement activities in three targeted community hub areas (Jamesville, McQuesten and CATCH/Vincent) with youth leaders helping 13 - 18 year olds tackle the issues that they identify as needing action.

Vision:
Engaging Youth Beyond Words!

Mission:
Hamilton will:
acknowledge/recognize,
inspire and
engage youth in creating a caring, connected community.

For more information, visit:
www.yeah-ymca.ca

Contact Information:
Mike Des Jardins
Program Manager
Youth Engagement & Action in Hamilton (YEAH)
YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington
905-540-9679    mike_desjardins@ymca.ca

In partnership with a collaborative of multi-sector community stakeholders, the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington gratefully acknowledges funding provided by:
The Hamilton Community Foundation and The Ontario Trillium Foundation.