Youth Empowerment Project (YEP)

Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) offers an out-of-school time program and summer enrichment camp that includes tutoring, homework help, field trips, meals, snacks, arts and crafts, STEAM activities, and mentoring. The program also includes youth leadership and civic engagement activities, school and career readiness support, financial literacy and career workshops, and opportunities to participate in a Youth Employment/Teen Jobs program. Participants can take part in Main Street Screen Works, a student-run, student-led screen-printing business that provides hands-on experience and training in screen printing and in running a small business.

• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: After-school programming during the school year and full-day summer camp, Monday–Friday
• Price: YEP is a free out-of-school time program and summer enrichment camp, with free snacks and meals

Since 1996, Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) has offered summer and after-school experiences that include field trips, tutoring, homework help, meals, and caring adult supervision. The program focuses on youth leadership, civic engagement, school readiness, career readiness, and arts and the environment. Youth and families from all neighborhoods are welcome to enroll, and YEP serves underserved students primarily from the Fox Chapel Area, Shaler Area, and Pittsburgh Public Districts, as well as youth from Sharpsburg and increasingly from Millvale and Etna. Community Service Hours are available for youth with court-ordered hours and for graduation requirements, and caring adult volunteers support mentoring, tutoring, homework help, STEAM activities, financial literacy, career workshops, arts and crafts, and chaperoning field trips and community service activities.

Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) Sharpsburg has a scholarship fund that encourages students to pursue continuing education and career readiness options after high school, and this scholarship can be renewed annually through the duration of the scholar’s academic program, generally four academic years, if requirements are met. Main Street Screen Works directs 100% of its profits to support the Youth Empowerment Project of Sharpsburg’s programs. The program is actively fundraising to raise $30,000 before the 2026–2027 school year to replace carpet and complete facility improvements. According to its mission statement, YEP is designed to promote positive youth development, prioritizes youth voice and choice in a safe space with enriching activities, and aims to equip young people to choose healthy behaviors, build positive peer relationships, and succeed in school and in life, with the stated goal of helping children and teens achieve their full potential while in school and beyond.

Last updated July 11, 2026.