The Youth Advocacy Partnership recently conducted the 2009 Summer Summit youth training in Dowling Park’s Advent Christian Village.  Students came from three adjacent counties including Hamilton, Lafayette, and Suwannee for the three day and two night summit.

“I love the opportunity to work with young people, I’m always amazed at the ideas and potential that our local youth have” said Youth Advocacy Partnership Director, Steven Schneitman.  “It’s clear that our kids WANT to make a difference in our community.”  The Youth Advocacy Partnership is a not-for-profit organization located in Live Oak, FL with a focus on encouraging local youth to become active in improving our community.  YAP works with several groups of young people locally to develop local service projects and build marketable skills in the process. 

The Summer Summit focused heavily on approaching local issues by changing the environment in which the negative behaviors take place.  Barbara Cody a 2009 Suwannee High graduate was on hand helping as a young adult staff, “I’m always happy to give back to my community.  Working on problems that me and my friends see, is really rewarding”, Cody said, “It’s nice to know that some adults in our community actually believe in us.  We can all be heroes, and that’s really cool!”

For more information about the Summer Summit, other YAP programs, or future youth trainings, visit www.youthadvocacy.net or contact Steven Schneitman, Director of Youth Advocacy Partnership at 386-362-2121