Youth United for Community Action

Youth United for Community Action

2135 Clarke Ave East Palo Alto, CA 94303

(650) 322-9165

Youth United for Community Action is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization.

"Locked out of the legal means of material survival, looked down upon by predatory politicians and police, left with the least relevant educational opportunities, talked at with contempt and not talked to with love-- is there any question why such youth are alienated?... 

They look at the lives they live and see not "civil rights progress", but a drumbeat of civil repression by a state at war with their dreams.

Why the surprise?

This is not the lost generation....

They are the children of the L.A. rebellion, the children of the MOVE bombing, the children of the Black Panthers, and the grandchildren of Malcolm; far from lost, they are probably the most aware generation since Nat Turner's; they are not so much lost as they are mislaid, discarded by this increasingly racist system that undermines their inherent worth. They are all potential revolutionaries, with the historical power to transform our dull realities.

If they are lost, find them." 
Mumia Abu Jamal -- Journalist, Black Panther, Political Prisoner

ENTER

 

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MISSION:

Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), a grassroots community organization created, led, and run by young people of color, the majority from low-income communities, provides a safe space for young people to empower ourselves and work on environmental and social justice issues to establish positive systemic change through grassroots community organizing.

 

HISTORY AND PROGRAMS:

 

In the Spring of 1994, a small group of young people of color active in their communities came together to form YUCA (Youth United for Community Action).  Stemming from our mission, YUCA launched the FIRE Fellowship, a program for young people of color which includes paid internships with community organizations working for environmental and social change in Bay Area. Due to the increased number of high school aged youth involved, we then launched Higher Learning in June of 1997 whose goal is to create a safe space where high school youth can come together to examine and act on issues that impact their communities. In 2005, we refocused the FIRE Program to focus on basebuilding. In 2010, we conducted a strategic planning process that renewed our commitment to environmental and social change, and youth organizing, resulting in the launch of two new campaigns, a leadership and basebuilding network in East Palo Alto, the revamp of our staffing structure to better support youth-to-staff transitions, and a resource development plan aimed to diversify our funding sources.  Currently, our work involves leadership development, community organizing, and coalition building.    

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

In the last 27 years, YUCA has successfully:

  • Supported and trained over 150 low-income youth of color as core youth organizers and 650 low-income youth of color as members to become actively involved in community campaigns in East Palo Alto and the region;

  • Redesigned a strong membership structure that allows for maximum participation of youth in the campaigns given their time and capacity and allows for leadership growth within the structure;

  • Expanded the Higher Learning Program structure to be able to regularize collective education sessions on political education and organizing trainings, expand the campaign capacity to include 2 fully-run community campaigns, and provide the individual and holistic support to all the youth organizers committed to YUCA;

  • Led over 250 workshops and toxic tours for over 1,200 youth and community members to become aware or involved in YUCA’s campaigns;

  • Shut down Romic, a hazardous waste toxic plant in the community of East Palo Alto! After 11 years of continuous pressure on regulatory agencies and the company for accountability, YUCA and community members forced the Department of Toxic Substances Control to issue a shutdown order of Romic after a series of workplace and safety violations that threatened community and workers;

  • Protected rent control in East Palo Alto through the creation of policies and practices designed to empower tenants;

  • Increased local control over hazardous waste facilities through the passage of an ordinance requiring formal city council approval of any hazardous waste use in the City of East Palo Alto;

  • Won the creation of the Community Advisory Committee made of community residents in all redevelopment projects within the Ravenswood Business District redevelopment area;

  • Won the roll backs of rents for tenants who have been unfairly increased by Page Mill Properties;

  • Completed a community planning process that created a vision of the Ravenswood Business District, the area occupied by the now defunct Romic facility. This community planning process resulted in an additional 30 acres of open space, 4.5 miles of trails; a mixed-use area combining housing and small business development; jobs that would triple the amount of jobs available in East Palo Alto, a proposed 20,000 square foot community center, library expansion, health clinic expansion, and a potential 10,000 square foot recreation center.

  • Partnered with the local continuation high school to provide 6 week series per semester of political education workshops to high school aged youth most at risk of dropping out.

  • 2013-Present: Won seats in local advisory commissions for youth and staff in East Palo Alto and San Mateo County to actively participate in, including the Rent Stabilization Board, Public Works and Transportation Commission, Planning Commission and Youth Commission of San Mateo County;

  • Received local and national recognition for YUCA’s model of youth leadership development.

  • In 2014 We won the creation of an Affordable Housing Linkage Fee in EPA

  • In 2014 We won the passing of a Tenant Protection Ordinance, the first ordinance of its kind in the entire Bay Area Region.

  • In 2015 we hosted four major Know Your Rights Workshops for teens and families with (retired) Hon. Judge LaDoris Cordel in East Palo Alto & Menlo Atherton High School in response to the Police Violence across the Nation.

  • Successfully lobbied City Council to put a Landlord Gross Receipts Tax on the 2016 November Ballot (known as Measure O by voters)

  • Successfully PASSED Measure O, formally known as East Palo Alto Residential Renter Business License Tax, in conjunction with Tenants for an Affordable EPA

  • Successfully passed the East Palo Alto Neighborhood Safety & Vitality City Service Measure (measure P), in conjunction with Tenants for an Affordable EPA. (2016)

  • Successfully passed Revisions to the Rent Stabilization and Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance (measure J), in conjunction with Tenants for an Affordable EPA. (2016)

  • Won $20 million in Affordable Housing Funds while creating a vanguard in Partnerships between Facebook and the EPA Community!!!!!!!! (2016)

  • Hosted #BlackLivesMatter and Affordable Housing Rallies & Actions! (2015-Present)

  • Successfully lobbied for the establishing of an off-site YUCA program at MA High School. (2016)

  • Organized a protest against Amazon for dismissing East Palo Alto’s 30% First Source Hiring Policy. (2017)

  • Hosted a Housing Forum at Kepler's cafe that focused on displacement and gentrification pressures in East Palo Alto.

  • Hosted a youth-led City Council Candidates Forum at St. Francis of Assisi Church. (2018)

  • Successfully lobbied to pass Measure HH, also known as Commercial Office Space Parcel Tax. Measure HH revenue will go toward building new affordable housing in East Palo Alto and to develop career-ladder and workforce development programs for people interested in STEM, construction, and vocational jobs.

  • Created an informational video regarding our Human Right to Water in East Palo Alto.

  • Successfully published a water article in our local news outlet EPA Today

  • Initiated a youth-led, restorative justice & transformative justice campaign to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and advocate for alternatives to punitive practices within public schools and entered into partnership with Restorative Justice expert Casey Wong to build a community where strong relationship and healthy dialogue create a safe space for growth, accountability, and conflict resolution in the least punitive way possible. (2019)

  • Successfully advocated for the re-implementation of the strongest Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in San Mateo County. (2019)

  • Hosted a Youth Panel and Political Art Gallery on the housing insecurity gripping East Palo Alto youth EPA is our Canvas.

  • Developing partnership with Urban Permaculture Institute and Anamatangi Polynesian Voices to build interracial solidarity and culturally competent approaches to climate resilience in East Palo Alto.

  • Launched a Climate Resilience campaign with the goal of implementing practices long used by our ancestors with an attempt to create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly community. (2020)

  • Hosted an orientation event for the launch of our Climate Resilience campaign to inform the community about what our goals and visions were. (July 2020)

  • Hosted a youth-led City Council candidates forum, a Ravenswood City School District candidates forum, and a Sequoia Union High School District candidates forum to inform voters about candidates’ policy platforms. (2020)

  • Advocated for and won the implementation of a local Eviction Moratorium to keep renters housed in East Palo Alto at the onset of the covid-19 pandemic. (March 2020)

  • Received training from a doctorate level psychologist, Dr. Joya Hampton-Anderson, around stress management for the purpose of knowing who and what to look for when in search of support for our mental health. (2021)

  • Influenced funding to youth led organizations by contributing in a design session with Youth Organizing in Northern California to help guide the way grants are distributed to strengthen the youth organizing movements statewide.

  • Helped fight a rent increase for Section 8 tenants at Courtyard Apartments and fought alongside Valiant Courtyard Tenants Association to improve safety and habitability.

  • Participated in the Children Do Not Belong in Cages rally hosted by SIREN and prevented the use of NASA Moffett Field Facilities in Mountain View as detention centers for young children under 18. (2021)

  • Successfully fundraised 1.2+ million dollars to avoid being displaced, purchase our office space in partnership with East Palo Alto’s PAHALI Community Land Trust, and permanently anchor youth organizing in East Palo Alto! (2021)