Our Mission
To enhance young people’s resilience and natural ability to manage adversity through training and repositioning.
Our History
Kim Gideon, a concerned mom from the Chesterfield area of Los Angeles, was inspired to form a group to prevent the neighborhood children from getting into trouble with the police. Linkages with Mayor’s Office of Public Safety staff and networking with staff members from other counseling and education agencies resulted in the formation of the Youth Resilience Institute in 2021. The organization now provides tutoring and life planning and leadership training to youth between 10 – 16 years old. Starting in 2023, the organization will include emotional support, mentoring and job placement services. YRI leases office space from New Direction Christian Center in the Jefferson Park area near USC and also leases office space from Rehoboth Missionary Baptist Church in the Leimert Park area of Los Angeles where it provides in-person life planning and leadership training. While the first 13 students came from the Chesterfield Area, the location of our participants has now spread to other parts of the city.
