Lewiston Auburn Youth Network
Working Towards a Brighter Future for tomorrow's youth.
Welcome to Lewiston Auburn Youth Network family. We really appreciate your time, and we welcome all types of criticism, both negative and positive.
Lewiston Auburn Youth Network is a brand-new, ethnic-based, nonprofit organization, with its principal office in the heart of Lewiston-Auburn, serving disadvantaged immigrant and refugee youth who came from low-income background families, between 8 – 16 years old. The organization was formed by a group of New Mainers in response to a long overdue social injustice in our education system, workforce, housing, criminal justice, mental health, and unequal access to opportunities and disparities based on race and ethnicity, family structure, and socioeconomic status. Our youth have been facing various challenges over the years including poor academic performance, school dropouts, unemployment, legal troubles, mental health, soccer field shortages, poverty, social inequalities, engaging in gang-related activities, and family dysfunction. LA Youth Network is committed to break down barriers to purposely create a safe space for our immigrant and refugee youth to feel safe, feel respected, feel heard, get involved, engaged, and empowered. Our long-term strategy is to empower more youth to take leadership roles, create authentic youth-led impacts, take part of the decision table by engaging more in community activities in a manner that is productive and constructive. We want our youth to be part of a broader social justice movement, build a coalition to mobilize young people to create broad, significant changes in our community and increase awareness of racial and ethnic disparities in schools, healthcare, criminal justice, and employment, and housing. As the driving force of our immigrant and refugee youth population, we intend to create our own impact by using our own experiences and voices in creating broad, significant changes in our community. We want to mentor others, lift each other, empower each other, and ensure that we have a seat at the decision table by engaging in our community activities in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognize, utilize, and enhance young people’s strengths. We intend to eliminate and put an end to the rise of street gun violence, rise of drug and alcohol use, homelessness, poor academic performance, teen pregnancy, poverty, declining labor force participation, sports field shortages, rise of social inequalities, and promote healthy family-youth relationships.
Who We Are
Our Roots
As a former immigrant and refugees, we are part of the immigrant and refugee stories. Just like many of the immigrant and refugees serving by Lewiston Auburn Youth Network, our families were forced out of their home country by foot to reimagine our life away from our families who were left behind, our loved ones, friends, and neighbors.
Some of us didn't have the resources and support that exists today compared to decades past. We have been upset and frustrated for years about the ineffectiveness of existing programs and resources without utilizing the knowledge, input, experience and expertise of our immigrant and refugee youth who are the most affected groups of people in the design, implementation, and execution of those programs. We feel like we have been left out and excluded from decision tables, considerations, and solution processes that affect our lives. In response, we came together to be civically engaged, and build a coalition among our emerging leaders to lead the way and achieve a common goal. We want to take charge and become an integral part of our community. We are committed to support each other, advocate for equal access to opportunities and achieve expanded access to sustainable employment, academical success, economic stability, legal resources, and vocational support.
What We Do
Making A Difference
Furthering our cause is the most important goal of our organization. We seek to support, empower, and provide high quality resources to our community in a safe and secure environment. Our success isn’t measured in terms of wealth or profit margin, but by the value we provide to those we serve.
Poetry
Reinforcing our Commitment
With our organization’s mission always in mind, we strive to find new strategies for dealing with this challenge. Poetry is something that we take very seriously, and our team is working each and every day to make a positive impact. Contact us to learn more about our commitment to this cause.
Street Violence
One Step at a Time
At Lewiston-Auburn Youth Network, we are dedicated to stepping up our efforts in addressing Youth violence on our streets. Addressing and preventing is by no means an easy feat, but through cooperation and community empowerment we believe we can facilitate progress in this area. We are always striving to make a difference, and invite you to learn more and lend your support.
Soccer program
Helping The Community
With this initiative, our goal is to use the power of sports by promoting sports to alleviate violence in our communities. With access the right resources, people can become empowered by their own abilities and gain the confidence to fulfill their potential. Learn more about our work by getting in touch with our team today.
Family Relations Program
Helping The Community
With this initiative, our goal is to promote healthy family relations. With access to the right parenting resources, our families can become empowered by their own abilities and gain the confidence to have a better relationship in our communities.
Youth Engagement & Leadership
Reinforcing our Commitment
With our organization’s mission always in mind, we strive to train our youth to take on leadership positions and be on the driver seat. We are dedicated to support and mobilize a coalition to drive change by enabling energized youth to mentor and inspire future leaders and nurture responsible adults.
Race Relations
One Step at a Time
At LA Youth Network, we are dedicated to stepping up our efforts in addressing social injustice in our education system, our workforce, our housing, our criminal justice system, healthcare industry, and lack of access to equal opportunities and disparities based on race and ethnicity, family structure, and socioeconomic status. We are committed to address and improve race relations in our families through cooperation and community outreach. We are always striving to make a difference and make progress towards racism.
Youth Education
Helping The Community
With this initiative, our goal is to promote educational opportunities for our youth. With access to the right resources, our youth can become empowered by their own abilities and gain the confidence to fulfill their potential.
Contact Lewiston-Auburn Youth Network
Address:
210 Blake St, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA
Email:
Phone:
(207) 888-7070
Our Story
Behind the Scenes
Here at Lewiston-Auburn Youth Network, we’re committed to investing our expertise and resources in order to further achieve our cause. Since 2019, we’ve been supporting our youth in a variety of ways and measuring our success not by monetary size, but by more qualitative measurements such as the scale and effectiveness of our efforts. Just imagine what we can achieve together!
Our Partners
Get Involved
Take Action Now
Partner with Us
Have an Impact
LA Youth Network always appreciates the generosity and involvement of people like you, with every contribution going towards making Lewiston-Auburn Youth Network an even better organization than it already is. We want to provide you with the correct and appropriate information pertaining to your mode of support, so don’t hesitate to contact us with your questions.
Volunteer Your Time
Help Us Soar
This is one of the simplest ways to help out our cause. We believe the best way for our initiatives to be successful is for the community to actively get involved. This is an easy and efficient way of contributing to the great work we do at LA Youth Network. Get in touch with any questions about how you can Volunteer Your Time today.
Make a Donation
Show Your Support
Want to join our efforts but not sure where to start? Make a Donation and take advantage of this incredible opportunity to lend your support. It’s a great way to contribute to our cause, and every little bit counts towards paving the path for a better tomorrow. Get in touch with us today for more details about how you can help.
Programs
Collaborative & Innovative
Community Development
Tackling the Issue
We see every challenge as an opportunity, and this initiative helps us ensure that our partners are better prepared to manage the unique situations they find themselves in. We are invested in an innovative approach that empowers our community and delivers the support they need, when they need it.
Youth Engagement & Leadership
Making a Difference
Through our Youth Engagement and Leadership, we have the potential to make a real and positive change in our youth. This is one of our key areas of focus here at LA Youth Network, and a source of much success for our organization. Get in touch with us today and see how you can lend a helping hand with this program.
Education & Outreach
Doing What’s Needed
Most of our efforts pertaining to this program involve studying new approaches and developing innovative ways to implement them. We evaluate our success in this field by gathering qualitative and quantitative data, and using that information to measure shifts and changes from our baseline measurements.
Maryan Abdirahman
Assistant Director
Maryan has been one of our co-founder, who brought intelligence, leadership and years of experience and skills to the forefront in helping LA Youth Network grow and succeed.
Iman Osman
Executive Director
Iman Osman is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of LA Youth Network. Born in Somalia and grew up in Lewiston, he initially moved to Lewiston in 2005 and went to high school in Lewiston. He went to Central Maine Community College and studied Human Services. Due to the rise of street gun violence, the rise of drug and alcohol use, college enrollment declines, high school dropouts, declining labor force participation, sports field shortages, high crime rates, rise of social inequalities, lack of resources and parent-children relationships are frayed, Iman led a team with years of experience to undertake the matchless experience of putting something valuable into motion and make it a reality. Iman is experienced leader, trustworthy, fun. These are just a few of the ways coworkers describe this invaluable member of our team. Iman is truly a joy to be around and makes it a pleasure to come to work every single day.
Omar Hassan
Board President
Omar has been one of the co-founder of LA Youth Network with the vision and drive to improve upon our organization, and focused on developing the organization with experience and integrity.