Community Youth Concepts

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Community Youth Concepts Community Youth Concepts ensures all youth have access to high quality opportunities that prepare them for school, work, and life.

A mission-driven organization based in Des Moines, Iowa, Community!Youth Concepts (C*C) promotes the use of positive youth development principles and best practices through training and technical assistance and through youth development initiatives. Formed in 2008 by Amy Ostrander Croll and Lynette Marchant, C*C connects the adults in the community with youth to form avenues of change by developing common ground. C*C helps youth discover their passions and then connects them with adults who have similar interests. We believe that with the right opportunities and supports, anything is possible. We also believe the community, as a whole, needs opportunities to learn and explore together. Because of this, we offer occasional workshops that are adult and youth-friendly opportunities to simply learn from one another. This institution is an equal opportunity provider. https://hhs.iowa.gov/assistance-programs/food-assistance/emergency-food

Harding's 6th grade TOP group is is working on their first service project: Making dog toys to donate to Furry Friends R...
10/13/2026

Harding's 6th grade TOP group is is working on their first service project: Making dog toys to donate to Furry Friends Refuge!

Want to follow along? St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center has an instructional page on how to tie a square knot tug toy! Use that old shirt that would have otherwise gone into the garbage to make a sturdy toy for an animal in your life!

C*C is excited to announce that John and Joie have completed the training and testing to be Reliable External YPQA Asses...
10/12/2026

C*C is excited to announce that John and Joie have completed the training and testing to be Reliable External YPQA Assessors. This process involves hours of independent and group coursework and practice scoring multiple activities to help assure that programs will get a consistent level of evaluation regardless of which assessor does the visit. In addition, each new assessor does at least two visits where they score alongside a current local assessor to help ensure that that evaluation practices align even more closely on the local level to ensure those programs who are trusting us as part of their program improvement team are getting consistent, reliable, and helpful data they can use.

C*C is now proud to have 5 External Assessors on our YPQA team. This will allow us to help support even more youth programs throughout Iowa.

For more information about the YPQA process and how it can provide useful data for program reporting and improvement contact [email protected].

Recognizing the differences between healthy, unhealthy, and dangerous behaviors is vital for building safe, healthy rela...
10/11/2026

Recognizing the differences between healthy, unhealthy, and dangerous behaviors is vital for building safe, healthy relationships. This red, green, and yellow light activity can help you understand what your personal boundaries are when it comes to relationship behaviors.

đź”´Red Lights
This behavior has crossed the line and is unsafe. Get help from a resource or trusted adult.

🟡 Yellow Lights
This behavior is unhealthy and worrisome. Consider using healthy communication skills or talking to a trusted adult.

🟢Green Lights
Keep up this healthy behavior.

Do you have a 6th grade girl at Findley Elementary? Findley Girls Group meets on Wednesdays from 2:45-4:00 in Mrs. Jenks...
10/09/2026

Do you have a 6th grade girl at Findley Elementary? Findley Girls Group meets on Wednesdays from 2:45-4:00 in Mrs. Jenks' room. We follow an evidence-based curriculum that focuses on 3 major areas; connecting with others, building skills, and learning about oneself. This group aims to promote positive youth development, reduce risky behavior, and improve academic outcomes through curriculum lessons that focus on youth-led activities, discussions, and community service-learning projects that students create and implement. Please reach out if you have questions or want more information!

Callanan's 6th graders worked on goal setting and self-efficacy last week! Students were given a random assortment of of...
10/08/2026

Callanan's 6th graders worked on goal setting and self-efficacy last week! Students were given a random assortment of office supplies and fidgets to move a marble (toxic waste) to the other side of the room without touching it themselves or moving their feet while holding it.

If you had to choose a tool from this picture, what would you use and how?

Thank you Mid-Iowa Health Foundation!
10/06/2026

Thank you Mid-Iowa Health Foundation!

We're excited to welcome Olive from AllLove Wellness to Stowe Heights for Yoga Under the Course! Olive is a talented yog...
10/05/2026

We're excited to welcome Olive from AllLove Wellness to Stowe Heights for Yoga Under the Course! Olive is a talented yoga instructor and community organizer, and will be guiding us through a beginner-friendly yoga flow on October 24th at 11am. After yoga, we'll offer tours of the course, and even some opportunities to try out some of our low-course elements.

You won't want to miss this event! Sign up today: https://cyconcepts.app.neoncrm.com/nx/portal/neonevents/events?path=%2Fportal%2Fevents%2F58321

Yesterday, we wrapped up our back to school fundraiser, with a total of over $2,500 raised between donations and gifts o...
10/01/2026

Yesterday, we wrapped up our back to school fundraiser, with a total of over $2,500 raised between donations and gifts off of our Amazon wishlist.

Thank you to everyone who supported this fundraiser! Our students have already begun to benefit from your generosity.

Our Amazon wishlist will stay open and updated throughout the school year (link in bio), and as always, we'll be sharing stories from all of our programs right here on Facebook.

We are just over $400 away from meeting the stretch goal for our back to school fundraiser, and today is the last day to...
09/30/2026

We are just over $400 away from meeting the stretch goal for our back to school fundraiser, and today is the last day to make a gift! This fundraiser directly supports our ability to promote youth leadership by giving our facilitators the freedom to say "yes" to student's ideas. Will you join us in building an Iowa where all youth have opportunities to lead?
Give today: https://cyconcepts.app.neoncrm.com/campaigns/back-to-school

Address

1446 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy
Des Moines, IA
50314

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm
Sunday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15152434292

Website

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