Over forty years ago, Youth Action YouthBuild (YAYB) changed the face of East Harlem by taking community activism to a whole new level. Enlisting the help of neighborhood youth who had had enough of the crime and neglect, local schoolteacher Dorothy Stoneman decided to take action and renovate the first of many condemned buildings — turning them into protected, low-income housing — giving those young adults the skills they needed to become leaders in their own community.
They saw a problem and acted!
This turned into an international movement that is still thriving today.
Evaluation Report:
Please read our most recent 2023 evaluation report on the impact of Youth Action on te lives of past participants:
An Evaluation of the Youth Action Program (3) (1)
The following partners have helped support YAYB. Thank you for your contributions!
