Where youth generosity grows
Generosity is already present in the young people CYC serves. It shows up in how they notice one another, step in for friends, and help support their families and neighborhoods. These everyday choices—often quiet and unrecognized—shape school culture and strengthen the places young people call home.
CYC builds on this foundation. In afterschool programs, youth are given space to explore what they care about, test ideas, and understand how their strengths can be directed toward real needs around them. With consistent guidance from adults, concern for others becomes something young people can act on—with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
How one idea became a community resource
When Balboa High School junior Callista first shared her idea with the afterschool team, she spoke quietly but with focus. She had spent years noticing which students struggled to access support—especially bilingual students who were less likely to ask for help.
“I wanted to do something big,” she said. “Something that would actually help students who don’t always get support.”
That idea led her to the Youth Empowerment Fund, a youth-led grant program from the YMCA of Greater San Francisco. For Callista, the process marked a shift. Instead of observing unmet needs from the sidelines, she began to see herself as someone who could help design a response.
With encouragement from staff at CYC, Callista started shaping her idea into a proposal. She drafted a curriculum, outlined how tutoring sessions would run, and worked through questions that felt unfamiliar and demanding. “Applying for the grant made me nervous,” she said. “But it helped me grow, especially in how I speak and how I carry myself.”
Gabrielle Wood, Balboa Site Coordinator, supported Callista throughout the process. “She came in with a ten-page document that was more detailed than what some adults submit,” Gabrielle said. Their weekly meetings became a space to refine ideas, talk through concerns, and prepare for the interview.
When Callista received the acceptance email—awarding $10,000 to launch her tutoring program—the moment carried weight. “I didn’t know how to express myself,” she said. “But I was really proud.” Gabrielle saw the broader impact. “She is improving her own community,” she said, “and other students will see this and know they can do something like it too.”
What youth leadership looks like
Callista’s experience reflects what can happen when young people receive structured support to develop ideas they already care deeply about. With guidance, time, and trust, concern becomes initiative—and initiative becomes something others can build on.
This kind of leadership does not appear overnight. It grows through steady relationships and opportunities that treat young people as capable decision-makers with insight into their own communities.
An invitation to support youth-led care
The generosity young people bring to their schools and neighborhoods is already at work. Support for CYC helps ensure that this care does not remain isolated or informal, but has room to grow into leadership, collaboration, and tangible impact.
By giving today, you help create the conditions that allow young people to move from noticing what matters to shaping solutions that serve their communities—and the city we share.