Partners for Youth Opportunity (PYO) is a holistic youth serving organization that focuses on long-term relationships with youth in Durham. We start with young people at the age of 14 and continue with them until four years after high school. The students we serve must be Durham residents at the time they enter the program and must meet one of three criteria: qualify for free and reduced lunch, have an incarcerated family member, or be a first-generation immigrant.
Our goal is to help marginalized youth break the cycle of generational poverty, and we approach that work through four programs:
- Educational Attainment
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- Tutoring, help with college applications and scholarships
- Workforce Development
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- Paid internships, bank accounts, financial literacy, credit building, visiting different job sites
- Mentoring Relationships
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- Skills based mentoring and teaching youth how to discern mentors in their own lives
- Community Engagement
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- Accessing and contributing to the larger community through leadership, service and the arts.