YE4C Responds to Current Events Affecting Youth

The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) celebrates “change makers” — young people who are working to make a difference in their communities and the world — by promoting meaningful youth engagement in important issues, and connecting youth with federal resources and opportunities to aid their efforts. Recognizing the vital role that youth have in strengthening programs and improving youth outcomes, the IWGYP created the Youth Engaged 4 Change (YE4C) website to help young people between the ages of 16 and 24 engage in change on personal, community, and national levels.

To help youth effectively address the issues of the day, IWGYP has updated the YE4C homepage by adding a Current Events page to give priority focus the best federal resources that are timely and responsive to the issues that are top-of-mind to youth today. The inaugural focus is on coping with community tragedies, building resilience, dealing with trauma, finding mental health resources, and taking action when traumatic events and violence occur.

To get started, the updated YE4C homepage now features:

• Stories from exemplary youth who are making strides in violence prevention and the ability to nominate additional youth who are working for positive change
• Quick links to YE4C's Facebook community page, SAMHSA's Distress Helpline and the Talk, Text, Act mental health peer network
• An opportunity to provide The White House with ideas on improving the justice system
• Blog posts on strategic sharing tips and advice for helping peers with mental health challenges
• Links to topical opportunities, tools for success, and support to help youth get involved, build their skills, access help, and become a more effective change maker

Please help spread the word about YE4C:

• Promote YE4C on your organization’s website with a badge, available for download at http://engage.youth.gov/badge.
• “Like” the YE4C page on Facebook, and encourage others to “like” the page.
• Share YE4C resources on your organization’s social media platforms.