About Youth Assisting Youth

Youth Assisting Youth (YAY) is dedicated to investing in the leaders of tomorrow and transforming the lives of at-risk and newcomer youth through the power of peer mentorship. For over 45 years, YAY has matched volunteer youth mentors, ages 16-29, with high risk youth, ages 6-15, to engage in mentoring activities that develop mind, body, character, and leadership skills. YAY connects volunteers to enriching mentorship experiences that profoundly impact the most vulnerable youth and their families in communities across the City of Toronto and York Region. 

This is not your average mentoring program. There are several things that make YAY unique from other mentoring programs in our region:

1. YAY accepts referrals of youth that have been diagnosed with Mental Health issues and Learning Disabilities;

2. YAY is a peer mentoring program, older youth mentoring younger youth, leading to a deeper, more trans-formative impact;

3. YAY fully trains all youth mentors in Effective Mentoring and Youth Mental Health & Learning Disabilities before matching them with a mentee;

4. YAY provides 24/7 emergency ongoing support for our Mentors, Mentees and families;

5. YAY provides free Group Mentoring Program activities and events to support our mentor relationships, as well as the youth on our waiting list;

6. YAY fully supports volunteer Youth Mentors, including ongoing monitoring, professional mentoring, scholarship and development opportunities;

7. YAY conducts comprehensive in-home needs assessments for every volunteer mentor, mentee and family in our program;

To learn more about our program, please visit www.youthassistingyouth.com