Lily Auchincloss Foundation Awards Youth Design Center $60K to Support Impactful Youth Programs
Virtual CAP- Architecture Cohort
[Brooklyn, NEW YORK] - April 13, 2022 - Youth Design Center (YDC) has been awarded $60,000 by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation to assist with general operating support to help continue pushing the organization forward. The donations from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation allow YDC to continue helping youth hone their STEAM skills during a global pandemic.
The first grant from The Lily Auchincloss Foundation was awarded to YDC in 2020 for $20,000. This generous donation helped YDC sustain and expand its transition to virtual programming, which laid the groundwork to prepare more young people in East Brooklyn to become STEAM leaders at the forefront of social justice.
Traditionally, YDC’s programming has been hands-on and immersive, connecting young people with in-depth mentorship from design professionals. However, the pandemic created the urgency necessary for making YDC tech and design offerings available on the web. Thus, YDC transitioned its Creative Apprenticeship Program (CAP) to an online format and provided take-home design kits so that students were able to bring projects to life remotely.
The transition allowed YDC to engage approximately 180 participants with online design and tech workshops—a number five times our previous year. YDC kept its storefront open by following social distancing guidelines for youth whose circumstances made working from home difficult. YDC also purchased laptops available for loan to virtual programming participants who do not have easy access to technology.
The Lily Auchincloss Foundation committed an additional $40,000 multi-year grant over the next two years. In 2021, the foundation's support helped YDC work with 150 young people by providing exposure to professional pathways in STEAM and increasing proficiency in design software such as Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Premiere for 100% of participants. We also enrolled 60 of those young people into YDC’s intensive virtual CAP. Past capstone projects have included a mini-documentary building awareness about the Brownsville Plan and pavilion designs for vacant spaces within the community.
The remaining support will allow us to continue providing the resources and tools necessary to make our CAP program successful. The Youth Design Center is grateful to The Lily Auchincloss Foundation for its continuous support in our mission to teach East Brooklyn youth marketable hard skills in STEAM and achieve economic mobility through postsecondary education and place-based community revitalization.
About Lily Auchincloss Foundation
The foundation was formed in 1997 in order to continue the charitable legacy of Lily Auchincloss and her life-long devotion to arts and culture in New York City. The mission of the Lily Auchincloss Foundation is to enhance the quality of life in New York City. The foundation supports art, preservation, environment, and community programs that serve to enrich the lives of the people of New York City. The Foundation generally funds organizations with 501(c)3 status based within the five boroughs.
For more information about the Lily Auchincloss Foundation visit their website below
