The San Francisco Chronicle spot lighted America Forward Coalition member Year Up in an article appearing Sunday, March 29. Year Up takes an innovative approach to breaking the cycle of poverty. The organization, which was founded in Boston in 2000, currently operates in six states. The organization’s mission is straightforward: to equip low income young adults without access to higher education with the skills they need to enter the corporate workforce. Their success is staggering.

An estimated 85 percent of Year Up graduates find jobs within four months of graduation and earn on average $15.59 an hour, the company said.

Chronicle staff writer Julian Guthrie interviewed current Year Up participants, who described the transformative effect Year Up has had on their lives.

John Menjivar, 24, said he likes the feeling of coming out of the BART station, wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. “Someone hands you a newspaper, and they look at you in a certain way,” he said. “You hold your head high.”

Carl Chatman, who is 21 and lives in the lower Fillmore, where he said he is surrounded by people who are into “robbing and selling drugs,” said he is finally back to making his grandmother proud. “When I started attending Year Up, I would come home and tell my grandmother I got an 85 percent on my test. My experience at Year Up has already changed my life. I am honored to be in this program.

We would like to join the San Francisco Chronicle in applauding Year Up for the impressive work they are doing to empower low-income young adults, and to break the cycle of poverty in the communities they serve.

Read the entire San Francisco Chronicle article here.