About EYC
Founded in 1986 to address rising drug use and gang involvement, the Endowment for Youth Committee, or “EYC”, started out as a collaboration of concerned parents, community groups, and civic agencies. The goal was simple: provide at-risk and minority youth with programs that would not only teach them the skills needed to succeed later in life, but would also provide participants with opportunities to excel in all areas of development.
EYC has a very simple attitude and approach towards improving the quality of life for young people in our community: find the barriers to success and knock them down. It is our operational philosophy that no child should, when given the proper support and tools, fail to reach his or her potential.
Our program offerings address academic, social, cultural, familial, and environmental road blocks, as well as providing experience in leadership roles, college or workplace access and readiness, and financial literacy. Furthermore, EYC believes that is our responsibility to our participants to offer the best programs to prepare a child for success at little or no cost to the participants family.
Today, some 25 years after we first started, EYC continues to increase opportunities for youth to grow and succeed through innovative programs that utilize best-practice delivery models and that meet students where they are and takes them to where they want to be. By working in strategic collaboration with funders, schools, community agencies, and government groups, EYC continues to be a leader in youth development for youth in the Santa Barbara area.