During Youth Together’s founding years a key solution that young people identified as critical to reducing school violence and creating positive school climate was culturally relevant, youth-centered, holistic spaces on campus. Young people envisioned these spaces as more then just places to work on homework.

They envisioned integrated and transformative spaces that would support the whole student, spaces that recognized and acknowledged young people as more then just students. The vision of the Youth Centers was about creating opportunities for personal and professional growth and development, building cross-cultural alliances, and giving young people knowledge of their choices and resources to be successful in whatever path they choose for themselves.

What emerged from the student’s advocacy and vision was the creation and actualization of the One Land One People (OLOP) Youth Center/Collaborative model. The first OLOP Center was launched in 2000 at Skyline High School, followed at Fremont in 2004, and at Youth Empowerment School in 2007.