LAYC Corporate Partners
The Latin American Youth Center has formed partnerships with some of the largest companies in the country. Their support of our programs is integral to the success of LAYC, and we thank each corporate partner for being a good neighbor and a supporter of youth development. Check back regularly for updates.
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Because of You, LAYC's Anchor Site is Debt Free!
In 1994, the LAYC Board of Directors decided a new site was needed. We did not want our young people to move into the new century in the deteriorating conditions of our building at 15th and Irving St., NW. We wanted a site where we could offer high quality Internet access, space for community meetings, privacy for individual counseling, and much more.
Columbia Heights did not look like it does today. The Green Line Metro stop was planned but not built. Our neighborhood was not yet a commercial gateway. In fact, much of it was an eyesore.
We took a walk in the neighborhood and saw an abandoned building with a for sale sign. To make a very long story short, despite limited resources or a feasibility study, our Board of Directors raised $100,000 and made a down payment on a run-down 35,000 square foot vacant apartment building. LAYC YouthBuild students used their skills to help with renovation. Board members and staff raised money. We took out a large loan from Prudential Insurance. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation provided bridge money. The Development Corporation of Columbia Heights served as our developer. Three years later after completing a $3,000,000 capital campaign, LAYC moved into its current anchor site.
From the day we moved in, the site has served as a beautiful and welcoming place for young people, their parents, and community members. It is still as wonderful as the first day.
Today we are celebrating another milestone at our anchor site. Two donors -- Freddie Mac Foundation and Deerbrook Charitable Trust -- have awarded LAYC funds to pay off the last dollars on our mortgage. The building is 100% ours, debt free! At a time when resources are shrinking, paying off our mortgage 10 years early saves LAYC over $1,000,000. We will use those funds to support our youth and families, for while the community has changed around us, the need for LAYC is greater than ever before.
The day we bought the building; the day we moved in; the day we paid off our mortgage: what an amazing journey! There are so many people who made this building a reality. Today, LAYC thanks the Freddie Mac Foundation and the Deerbrook Charitable Trust for making sure that the LAYC anchor site is here for years to come! |
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Students at Harriet Tubman Elementary School received an early holiday gift from Payless ShoeSource: a new pair of shoes!
This year LAYC became a Payless Gives Shoes 4 Kids partner. As a community partner LAYC distributed shoe vouchers to families with children in need, including 20 vouchers that went to these smiling faces.
Harriet Tubman Elementary School participates in LAYC's Supplemental Educational Services (SES) program, which provides K-12 DC Public Schools' (DCPS) students with academic support in reading, language arts, and mathematics to help them succeed in school and become engaged learners.
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Over 60 newly minted AmeriCorps members participated in a swearing-in ceremony at LAYC, on October 21 for the 2011-2012 program year. LAYC thanks M&T Bank, which sponsors LAYC's AmeriCorps Program, and its representatives, Charles Martin, Derek Harps, and Juan Manuel Jara (pictured right, between LAYC President & CEO Lori Kaplan and AmeriCorps Program Coordinator, Carlous Price).
 The new members received a blue jacket with the LAYC logo on the back and the AmeriCorps and M&T Bank logos on the sleeves.
AmeriCorps members will provide in- and out-of-school academic assistance to middle and elementary school children in Washington DC, and Maryland's Prince George's County.
Welcome to all the new members! It's going to be a great year!
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 Photo by World Vision LAYC welcomed visitors from World Vision - North Capital Area (U.S. Programs) over the summer 2011, including visiting president of World Vision U.S., Richard Stearns, World Vision’s Senior Vice President Chris Glynn, and Vice President of U.S. Programs, Romanita Hairston.
President & CEO Lori Kaplan, lead the visit along with LAYC's Chief Operating Officer, Sandy Gutierrez, and Deputy Education Director, Mike Leon. The visitors got to hear from two LAYC participants, Nehmas Arno and Armeyas Gurmesa, who take part in World Vision’s Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) at LAYC- LAYC is a partner is delivering this program. YEP is World Vision’s signature project in the US with the purpose to inspire under-served youth and give them the tools to become advocates of positive change in their communities.
Nehmas Arno is from the Dominican Republic, and through LAYC programs has learned to speak English and make a difference in his community. After leaving his home country and struggling to fit in, he says YEP and LAYC helped him to know who he is. He has also been inspired by his peers, “The way the youth get together and get engaged has changed me,” Nehmas said.
Armeyas Gurmesa came from Ethiopia in 2009 with his family, speaking no English. He enrolled in school, and soon came to LAYC where he met Ama Bentsi-Enchil. Ama is co-trainer for World Vision’s YEP in the D.C. area. She recognized Armeyas’ potential, and told him how he could help other students at LAYC with math and science. She then encouraged him to participate in YEP. “This story is not just mine. It’s all of my friends',” said Armeyas.
After hearing these stories, Stearns said that World Vision has learned the importance of addressing all the needs of people living in poverty: needs for food, water, shelter, clothing, and safety. Without access to those essentials he said, “They’ll always be in poverty… It’s a holistic approach to poverty where you have to get at the root causes, and there isn’t just one.”
He offered praise for LAYC’s work, saying, “What’s great about this work that you’re doing is that it has so many dimensions to it. People can come here and find a way to put their whole self together.”
The partnership between LAYC and World Vision is helping youth like Nehmas and Armeyas develop their support networks. |
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AmeriCorps members with M&T Bank's Derek Harps.
M&T Bank recently honored members of the Latin American Youth Center and Maryland Multicultural Youth Centers AmeriCorps programs at a ceremony held at the Center's anchor site.
Special jackets and hats were presented to the young people who completed AmeriCorps training and now serve as educational aides. LAYC's AmeriCorps program is divided into three teams -- civic engagement, health, and education. The program works in DC public schools providing support to students who are performing below grade level as well as working in various other capacities in the city's neighborhoods.
Derek Harps presenting a jacket and shirt to an AmeriCorps member.
The jackets feature the M&T Bank logo on one sleeve, AmeriCorps logo on the other, and Latin American Youth Center and Maryland Multicultural Youth Center lettering on the back. They will be worn while AmeriCorps members carry out community service projects.
"The work that the members are doing in the community is incredibly valuable," Derek Harps, Vice President of the Not-For-Profit Banking Group at M&T Bank, said.
The AmeriCorps pledge.
LAYC's AmeriCorps Program was established in 1997 at the DC site and in 2007 in Maryland. Members are recruited from the local community, and many have been involved with LAYC and attended the DC or MD public schools in which they now serve.
For more information on the LAYC AmeriCorps programs, please contact Carlous Price, DC AmeriCorps Coordinator at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or Eunice Humphrey, MD AmeriCorps Coordinator at
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