By Jane Keller Gordon, Contributing Writer
Region – Leadership, teamwork and good listening are among the many skills gained by a group of 18 dedicated high school students who participated in this year’s Youth for Community Improvement (YCI) Advisory Committee. In December, this student-led group awarded $23,814 in grants to seven Worcester county nonprofit programs.
Twenty-one nonprofits applied for $83,172. The YCI group could make grants up to $4,000 for programs with budgets not exceeding $25,000.
Now in its 16th year, the YCI is funded and managed by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation.
Amy Berry Mosher, YCI program director, said, “[The students] knock my socks off every time,” on her WCCATV cable show, “Exposure with Mosher.”
Mosher spends months recruiting and interviewing an ethnically and economically diverse group. Once selected, this year’s group participated in a September retreat at Community Harvest Project in North Grafton.
On Wednesdays after school, the students met for 12 weeks through Dec. 9. For each meeting, they had a bell keeper (timekeeper), vibe checker (facilitator), greeter and note taker.
After much team-building and discussions, the group agreed on three priorities for their request for proposal (RFP): mental health; access to economic opportunity; and diversity and cultural awareness.
“Sometimes you have bigger goals to help the world …. You should start in your community, your neighborhood,” Lissett Quispe, a sophomore at Worcester’s Burncoat High School, noted on the cable TV show.
Rayaan Yumas, a sophomore at Westborough High School, shared some of his experiences as part of the YCI Advisory Committee.
How did you connect with YCI?
The main reason why YCI appealed to me was the idea of helping the community and the idea to make decisions with other people of the same interest. I had lived in Pakistan for five years when I was young and I saw people in poverty and that really motivated me to not let people like that suffer, which is especially a problem in Worcester in a multitude of ways.
What was the greatest challenge that you faced in this project?
Personally, I didn’t feel like there was an obstacle in this project for me. The structure of the program was well set up and made it really easy for me to follow, which I feel also relates to my personality in a way. … I feel that I adapt quickly. Although this is true, before joining the program I sometimes had a problem of not talking often, but as I went along I overcame that challenge.
Did you have fun?
Yeah, I had lots of fun in the program. When I was applying, there was a tinge of thought that the program was going to be boring but the first meeting really got us accustomed to all the other members and we really bonded after that point. Also, being so involved within the community really felt satisfying and just be happy knowing what a difference we could make to people’s lives.
What did you learn from being a part of YCI?
One of the major things I learned was how to speak and when to speak with a group of people with many opinions, and when to just listen. This idea really helps you hear other people’s opinions and then maybe implement their own ideas into yours for a better outcome. This is specifically important in all we learned about grants, RFPs, community needs, and the pathways to come to a final decision. Also I really learned how to talk in front of a group as I would be nervous without this training, and the importance of outsourcing and building connections.
For more information on YCI, contact Amy Berry Mosher at [email protected].