After 16 years of honing our place-based model in the Franklin Gateway community, we are thrilled to share that YELLS expanded our powerful youth leadership approach to a new neighborhood! In 2024, YELLS launched the Fair Oaks YELLS Youth Program for Kindergarten to fifth grade youth within Fair Oaks Elementary…
At YELLS, we believe youth aren’t just the future. They’re leaders today. This past year, the young people of Franklin Gateway and Fair Oaks proved just that, taking their neighborhoods into their own hands and transforming them with creativity, passion, and love. From our youngest K-5th grade changemakers in the…
At YELLS, we believe the power to transform a neighborhood lives within the people who call it home. This year, that power shone brightly through the parents who have joined hands with us to shape not just their children’s growth, but the future of their families and their community. Our…
From the moment Jevyn Clark joined the YELLS Mentoring Program as a silly, but timid elementary school “Little,” he was watching, learning, and soaking it all in. He studied his “Big,” David, as he pitched service projects and brought ideas to life. That early exposure to mentorship and leadership planted…
We are thrilled to announce that we now have our very own Little Free Library here on campus at YELLS! Little Free Libraries are community tools that operate on the “Take One, Leave One” principle. With this in mind, it encourages students to take a book and leave a book…
The 2023-2024 Mentoring Retreat was a huge success! Each year, to welcome our “Bigs” into the Mentoring program, we host a retreat that emphasizes and teaches the importance of the YELLS values. “Bigs” are 9th-12th grade students who will be paired with one elementary schooler that they will mentor and…
YELLS has enjoyed abundant holiday blessings this year thanks to the generosity, hard work, and community spirit of the Marietta Country Club. For the past nine years, the Marietta Country Club has been giving back to local organizations through their ThanksGIVING Golf Classic, and YELLS is so honored to be…
YELLS is a place for community empowerment and action, and our Community Conversations event provided an intentional forum for youth, parents, neighbors, business leaders, City and County representatives, and stakeholders to unite to uplift our shared community. As our special project in celebration of the National PAL (Police Athletic and…
We are so grateful for our wonderful partners at Assurant who have gone above and beyond in providing our teens with incredible opportunities to explore their professional passions and practice their networking skills, as well as experiences that they will remember for a long time! Assurant Career Day In the…
YELLS has been actively involved in uplifting the Franklin Gateway community for years, but it’s easy to forget that we are a small grassroots organization that relies on community support to continue the good fight. It is a blessing that our mission to empower the youth of Franklin Gateway resonates…
