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YAB Achievements

The Youth Action Board's work has a tangible impact on our community.

YAB Achievements

Youth Action Board with Salt Lake County Council Members at the Milestone Parade of Homes dinner, July 15, 2025. 

For the past three years, the Youth Action Board has partnered with Volunteers of America, Youth Resource Center, to complete a youth-specific PIT. The youth Point-in-Time Count in Salt Lake County refers to a yearly count conducted to assess the number of young people experiencing homelessness within the county, usually taking place during the last week of January as part of the broader Point in Time Count mandated by Housing and Urban Development (HUD); this data is crucial for understanding the scope of youth homelessness and allocating resources to address it.

Key points about the Youth Point in Time Count in SLCo:

  • Focus on youth:

This count specifically targets individuals under the age of 25 experiencing homelessness, including both sheltered and unsheltered populations.

  • Part of a larger count:

The youth count is conducted alongside the overall Point-in-Time Count, which captures all individuals experiencing homelessness in the county.

  • Data usage:

The information gathered from the youth count informs policies and funding decisions related to youth homelessness prevention and intervention programs.

  • Volunteer involvement:

The count relies on volunteers who go out into the community to identify and interview individuals experiencing homelessness.

This required the Youth Action Board leadership to attend Point-in-Time work group meetings and collaborate with Youth Resource Center's administration to plan the youth count at the Youth Resource Center's youth shelter, including the plan for food and activities for youth experiencing homelessness. The Youth Action Board's members create flyers to notify youth experiencing homelessness of the date and time of the count, collect donations, and deliver donations on the day of the event. The Youth Action Board produced a youth-specific Point-in-Time Count training video, as an online education resource for the community. The Youth Action Board further improved the Point-in-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count for youth who enter the homelessness system.  

Youth Point-in-Time Count 2025

The Youth Action Board supported the Milestone expansion in Millcreek. The Youth Action Board also supported the Milestone and Salt Lake Rotary partnership to expand the Milestone program, by participating in a fundraising film for Salt Lake Rotary, attending the Rotary fundraising kick off and writing a letter to support a $2.9 Million dollar Office of Homelessness Services grant - that was awarded to SL Rotary in August 2023.

Youth Action Board was also involved in the renovation of a Sandy Milestone home that was featured in the Salt Lake Parade of Homes. They provided design feedback and engaged in a service project for the Ribbon Cutting and dinner on July 15, 2024. In partnership with Milestone staff and participants, the Youth Action Board helped to decorate, set up, present, and take down a dinner for 180 community members. The purpose of this dinner was to educate public officials and community members on the Milestone Program and how to duplicate their model throughout the state.

The Youth Action Board members were interviewed as part of the Deseret News Article from July 16th, 2024. 

In September 2022 the SLCo Youth Services Youth Action Board (YAB) met with Homebase to address youth homelessness as a priority for our states homeless strategic plan and to request a Youth Needs Assessment (YNA). The meeting was a success! The 2023 state strategic plan included not only youth and young adults experiencing homelessness as a priority, but also a recommendation for a YNA.

In 2023, Salt Lake Valley Coalition to End Homelessness, with the Youth Action Board leading the way, applied and was awarded $2.78 million dollar Youth Homeless Demonstration Program Grant.

Volunteers of America Youth Resource Center was awarded YHDP funds. The Youth Action Board and the YHDP Coordinator with the Salt Lake County Office of Homelessness and Criminal Justice Reform provide ongoing feedback, guidance, and support to the grantee.

KSL News report on YHDP Award.

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Youth Action Board attending the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference in Washington DC, July 2024.