The Saint Paul Youth Commission is the place for young people in Saint Paul to have a voice at City Hall. This group of twenty-two 9th-12th graders tackles community issues -- everything from opening the city’s only arts-based teen center to advocating for public transportation/city buses to be more affordable, to advising Sprockets on programs, marketing and social media -- that help create a better Saint Paul for youth.
The Saint Paul Youth Commission is currently accepting applications for the 2013-2014 school year. SPYC Application
Involvement Includes:
- Leading community projects that matter to you; tackling serious issues by designing creative solutions.
- Ensure the views of youth are heard by city officials, state legislators and the community at large and play a key decision making role.
- Strengthen your leadership skills, expand your network, and build your power!
Membership details:
- Youth Commissioners must be enrolled in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade during the 2013-2014 school year and reside in Saint Paul.
- The Youth Commission meets every Monday night and needs members who can regularly attend and actively participate.
- Most meetings will take place at the Central Library in Downtown Saint Paul. Each Youth Commissioner receives an unlimited bus pass to get to and from meetings.
Accessible Transportation; Busing and Biking
The Youth Commission believes having consistent youth participation in afterschool and summer programming requires access to reliable transportation. The Youth Commission is going about building systems of reliable transportation by targeting youth access to public transit and biking. Work with Metro Transit will be continued throughout the 2012-2013 school year, predominately focusing on parent outreach and targeted dispersal of route information. To address bike access, the Youth Commission will work to organize a springtime bike ride throughout the City, which will include education on urban riding as well as bike merchandise. The Youth Commission hopes these strategies will build a generation of public transit users and bike riders. When youth are comfortable getting around the city independently, they feel more connected to their community and have more freedom to participate in meaningful out-of-school time opportunities.
Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Youth experiencing homelessness and highly mobile youth are of growing concern in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota. The Youth Commission is working on several initiatives to promote awareness and gather & distribute resources for youth experiencing homelessness in Saint Paul. To research this issue the Youth Commission has met with local youth shelters. The Youth Commission will be hosting several outerwear donation drives this winter. Come spring, the Youth Commission will help plan and execute Project Youth Connect, a one-stop-shop event where youth can get anything from housing resources to food shelf locations to haircuts. The Youth Commission believes everyone deserves stable housing and will speak with local officials and state legislators about the need of additional services in Saint Paul for youth experiencing homelessness.