B.E.S.T. (Building Empowerment Skills Today)

B.E.S.T. (Building Empowerment Skills Today)

Area Development - Community Service - Non Profit

Website: hhttp://www.bestyouth4u-com.webs.com

 (916) 646-1763

 P.O. Box 5351, Sacramento, CA 95817

The B.E.S.T. program recruits youth, ages twelve to eighteen, from the Oak Park area. Its program is a three-week, three-day-a week, summer youth development nonprofit, paying the youth a $20 per day stipend in the mornings. Youth work side-by-side with contractors and project managers, completing home improvement projects that help Oak Park homeowners improve the facade of their homes.

B.E.S.T. has had an positive impact on the blighted Oak Park community by doing projects such as: repairing and painting fences, painting homes, creating gardens, moving decorative bark and rock, and weed abatement. Daily, the group provides a seven-hour oasis for the youth who are faced with gang and illegal drug activity.