African American Youth Harvest Foundation Information

African American Youth Harvest Foundation (AAYHF) is a non-profit, 501c3 organization that is dedicated to providing after-school programs, school-based truancy prevention, substance abuse education and workforce development for low-income, at-risk, underserved youth and their families at no charge in Austin, Texas. The organization has its headquarters in Austin. AAYHF is tax-exempt organization. Mission: AAYHF is dedicated to providing free resources to at-risk youth and their families with an end goal of self-sufficiency. Organizational Overview The African American Youth Harvest Foundation (AAYHF) emerged in 2006, after Michael Lofton and other community members recognized that youth and their families were encountering problems and barriers when they needed services, including transportation to different locations scattered throughout the city, disproportionate suspension rates, and costly criminal violation fines. Michael Lofton felt that a “one stop shop” approach would benefit both children and their families. AAYHF is Austin’s leading and local provider of free resources and social services for youth. AAYHF has been providing supportive services, including helping vulnerable families transition from broken families to whole families, for almost a decade; reaching 8,775 to-date. Since AAYHF’s inception it has been comprehensively focused on culturally responsive services as it became clear that was what was needed for under-served, at-risk children’s success. Supported both by research and experience, AAYHF began targeting three critical needs in the underserved community: truancy prevention, society reintegration for juvenile offenders, and eliminating the digital divide through STEM & STEAM programs. As resources allowed, AAYHF increased the breadth of programming in order to make youth more workforce ready. In addition, AAYHF programs supporting children and youth have broadened to include a substance abuse education program.