Who We Are

Overview: Mile High Youth Corps Colorado Springs is a crew-based employment and training program for young adults ages 16-24. Youth conservation corps in Colorado are based on the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's New Deal days. Our participants work on conservation and environmental stewardship projects, such as fencing, weed mitigation, park development, rehabilitation of sensitive riparian areas, and trail maintenance, on public lands in both urban and rural areas.

Mile High Youth Corps Colorado Springs members spend their summers as part of an 8-10 person crew supervised by two adult leaders. Corpsmembers earn at least minimum wage and work full-time. We have both day (youth are transported to their work site but return home each evening) and camping (youth camp on-site with vehicle support, often hiking to the project site) crews.

Our Corps serves seven counties along the Southern Front Range of Colorado: El Paso, Teller, Fremont, Custer, Huerfano, Las Animas, and Pueblo.

The Mile High Youth Corps Colorado Springs program also incorporates project-specific environmental education, job-readiness training, team building, and other life skills while building on the ethics of personal responsibility and civic pride. Eligible corpsmembers (17 years-old and older) can earn an AmeriCorps Education Award ranging from $1,000 to $1250 for use at approved universities, colleges or trade schools.

History: In the past several years, the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) has received requests from community leaders in El Paso, Teller, and Pueblo Counties to develop a regional youth corps to serve their communities. Young people in this area of the state, including Fremont, Custer, Huerfano, and Las Animas Counties have not had the opportunity of joining a youth corps close to home. At the same time, local, state, and federal land managers, and non-profit conservation groups in these counties have not had the benefit of a local youth corps' services.
Youth corps crews from elsewhere in the state have completed many of the work projects in these counties, taking their wages and scholarships out of the area once they complete the project.

As a result, CYCA collaborated with a Task Force of local community leaders to establish a locally-based, but regionally responsive youth corps program, headquartered in Colorado Springs. The Task Force, which included members from the seven counties, was awarded a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) planning grant for $23,000 in capacity building funds to plan and implement a pilot program. These funds were leveraged with matching public and private dollars and the Colorado Legends and Legacies Youth Corps was launched!

The Organization: Mile High Youth Corps Colorado Springs is an independent, not-for-profit, tax exempt organization incorporated in Colorado . We are part of the eleven-corps network of youth conservation corps across the state.

Staff:

Nancy Wilson ,  Site Director , nancyw@cllyc.org , 719-219-5825
Ryan Shuck, Field Coordinator, rshuck@cllyc , 719-571-9431

Contact Us:

Mile High Youth Corps - Colorado Springs
1506 N. Hancock Avenue
Colorado Springs , CO 80903
Phone: 719-630-7421