• Overview
• Become a Volunteer
• Contact Us

Youth receive first-hand experience working in an office setting and often work on youth-driven advocacy campaigns, such as the Disability History Week Campaign and Taking Action for Accommodations. The YO! Volunteer Corps create connections for youth with adults with disabilities, as well as other youth volunteers. YO! Volunteer Corps members earn a stipend every month.

Meet a YO! Volunteer…

Hello, my name is Jose A Cruz Angeles. I am 26 years old and I have been blind since I was 3 years old. I was born in Mexico City, but I have been living in Anaheim, CA since the age of nine. I am responsible, honest, respectful, and very outgoing. I love music: therefore, my hobbies are to play guitar, listen to all types of music, and sing. I also enjoy dealing with technology, helping others, playing sports, and working out. I applied to be a volunteer for YO! because as I said before, I like helping others. It is also a chance for me to show other people like myself that we can do something in life. Growing up, I did not know much about all the rights people with disabilities have. I also didn't know about all of the technology that is available. I had to figure everything out on my own. Because of this, I do not want other people to struggle as I did. I want them to know what I did not know growing up. This is a little about me, and I hope to be a great help to the YO! program.

Youth Volunteer Corps Alan Dayle McIntosh Center – Garden Grove, CA

Youth Advisory Council

The YO! YAC is made up of 7 - 9 youth with disabilities across the state ranging in age from 16 - 28 that are familiar with the YO! program and want to use their leadership skills to make it even better. The YO! YAC provides valuable input on policy issues, community organizing campaigns and program priorities. They met at least once a quarter by phone or webinar and occasionally in-person. Youth are are interested are encouraged to apply.

Tiffany

Sara

Priscilla

Alise

Ian

Armand

Alexa

Youth Volunteer Corps

The YO! Volunteer Corps consist of 9 youth volunteers who work in local independent living centers in their community. YO! Volunteer Corps commit to at least 16 hours of work a month and receive a $100 stipend each month. Volunteer Corps members work for a minimum of 6-12 months at their placement site. Volunteer Corps members work on a variety of tasks, including YO! Organizing campaigns, in their local communities.

Youth can apply at any time to be a YO! Volunteer Corps member. However, placements are limited to funding and site availability.

Ashlee

Brian

Katherine

Jose

Jacquelyn

Emily

Alan

Youth Action Team

Youth are encouraged to volunteer for a YO! organizing campaign, working in their local communities. There is no time commitment and the amount of time spent on campaigns varies for each organizer. Campaign organizers do not receive a stipend. Meetings for each campaign are held by teleconference in afternoons or on weekends. These provide a chance to connect with youth from around the state! Each participant can do as little or as much as they want to support a YO! campaign, but everyone is involved in advancing the campaign in some way.

Currently, we have nearly 30 organizers working on the Taking Action for Accommodations campaign and 25 working on the Disability History Week campaign.

If you are interested in working on a campaign, please contact a youth advocate.