by Ellen Andre

(Since it’s launch in October of 2022, InsideLowell has provided me the opportunity to shine the spotlight on a number of key organizations in our community. In fact, in the nearly two years that have followed, I’ve been able to introduce you to a dozen of these groups. Of course, with the passage of time, many have grown and evolved since we first told you about them. With that in mind, I felt it might be a good idea to update you on where they are today, and how people like you have helped them along the way. Thank you for your support!)

Organization Name: Lowell Youth Leadership Program

Address: Held at Greater Lowell Tech High School (mailing address is 2 Belmont St Lowell 01851)

Leadership Team: Executive Director isa Ansara and President  Larry Wilson

How long has your organization been in operation? We incorporated in 2021 and held our first camp in Summer of 2022

Highlights of your Mission and New Accomplishments: LYLP’s mission is to provide access and opportunity to under-served Lowell youth. We plan to provide exposure to a slate of courses and activities that are unavailable to our participants for reasons of cost or local offering. The curriculum is structured to engender a sense of empowerment and a connection to the community. Our objective is to try and lessen the effect of the participants environment as an impediment to their success. By emphasizing leadership skills and civic engagement we hope to create an environment that fosters a desire to give back to the community and creates a legacy of leadership.

How has the Program changed or Improved since 2 years ago? We ran our first camp in the summer of 2022 at the Greater Lowell Technical High School (GLTHS) campus. The program ran for 2 and half weeks and served a little over 100 participants. Our second camp in 2023 ran for 4 weeks and served approximately 150 kids. We ran our third camp this past summer (2024). The program ran for about a month and served approximately 180 kids. Each year we were forced to maintain a wait list of around 30 children due to operational and budgetary constraints. The program is completely free and, in addition to the many activities offered, LYLP includes free breakfast and lunch and transportation to and from the camp. In 2024 over 6,000 meals were served!

What are you most proud of in the last year? In order to continue our reach beyond the camp and into the community, this year we instituted a career day for the older campers. Campers could choose between

-a trip to a recording studio to record a song they had written with the help of a Berkeley College of Music professor

-go to the State House to present to our State Reps a community issue they had identified (veteran homelessness)

– visit Middlesex Community College for a hosted orientation day

– produce a dance video with a renowned choreographer and recording studio

• work with a local artist to create an individual piece.

This day was a great success.

What are 1 or 2 ways you have made an impact that is different than our initial report?  One of the many exciting things that has happened is that we were able to hire junior counselors and counselors who were once campers.  That has been a goal and corresponds with our mission of building a legacy of leadership. Kids who served as Junior Counselors spent the week after camp with our Program Director and Assistant Program Director to continue learning lessons on leadership and public speaking.  Through this they were able to earn a college credit to help set them on a path of higher education. We continue to connect with other local non-profits. Recently Girls Inc. provided scholarships for 2 of our campers to attend the International Women2Women conference at Emerson College. Another local non-profit, the Lura Smith Foundation, gave scholarships to 7 of our campers to attend College for Kids at Middlesex Community College.

What is an area where you’d like to expand or grow? We have grown from accepting 120 campers in 2022 to 180 in 2024 and moved from two weeks to four.  We are currently working on ways to connect with campers year round with possibly holding a once a month “meet-up” with speakers, team-building, and leadership lessons.  We have many interested campers.

What is the biggest challenge today? Securing sustainable funding is a big challenge.

How can the community help? We are fortunate to have community support that we hope continues.  We have our annual fundraiser and celebration on Nov 13th.

If people would like to learn more, who should they contact or where can they go for more info? Please visit our website at www.lylp.org.  Email Lisa Ansara at lisa.ansara@lylp.org or call 978-551-2605

What is the best way to make monetary donations?  There is a link on our website or send a check directly to LYLP 2 Belmont St Lowell 01851