Latin American Youth Center, Inc.

The Latin American Youth Center supports youth and their families to live, work, and study with dignity, hope and joy.

Founded in the late 1960s by community leaders and youth to serve immigrant Latino youth, the Latin American Youth Center (LAYC) has grown from a small grassroots recreation center to a nationally recognized multi-cultural, multi-service agency serving all low-income youth across the District of Columbia and in Maryland’s Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties.    

LAYC operates a regional network of youth centers, school-based sites, and public charter schools that offer a comprehensive set of high quality, multilingual, culturally sensitive programs including:

--Educational Enhancement: Standards-based tutoring and homework assistance, computer literacy, and college preparation;

 --Counseling, Treatment, and Case Management: Certified counselors work to strengthen the family unit as the primary foundation for youth development;

--Community Wellness: Education, outreach, and leadership development to promote physical and mental health and community peace-building;

-- Workforce Readiness: Employment and life skills training, GED preparation, and leadership development for youth who have not completed high school;

--Residential Placement: Housing, case management, and support services to homeless or runaway youth or youth in foster care.

--Art +Media: Classes to encourage youth to experience the power of their art as a means of self-expression and a tool to explore community issues.

--Healthy Recreation: In- and after-school fitness programs such as Pancho Gonzalez Youth Tennis and Education Academy and Muévete, LAYC’s circuit training program.

--Advocacy: Educate and involve youth in relevant public policy debates and civic activities that impact low-income young people.

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