History

In 2008, Lexington community members and town officials came together to address a growing concern in the rise of suicidality and depression within our student community.  This collaboration led to the founding of the YCC organization, as a 501c3 nonprofit. These community members worked tirelessly to raise funds and find a secure physical location to launch YCC services.

In 2011, YCC opened its doors with a focus on crisis intervention, through our drop in hours. The goal was to give our students free access to immediate mental health support. 

Over the next handful of years, YCC launched several programs to offer additional resources/tools to vulnerable student groups within the community. YCC founded a local chapter of the national Sources of Strength program with the ultimate goal of connecting high school students to trusted adults. We began offering support groups of multicultural parents as well as our LGBTQ+ teen groups. 

During the 2021 pandemic, the demand for mental health access tripled. YCC once again pivoted to remote services and adapted its primary focus from crisis intervention to also include preventative work. This pandemic brought to light the need for students to proactively gain tools and support before a crisis evolves. This allowed YCC to implement our short term counseling model which addresses the following: 

• peer conflict

• self-esteem

• school achievement 

• family conflict

• depression/anxiety 

• executive functioning skills 

• social emotional awareness

• individual identity

• behavioral outbursts

YCC’s belief is that by equipping students and their families that they can tackle any challenge they are faced with. YCC believes that all students feeling any level of discomfort should be able to have the skills to cope through these moments. This ultimately builds future resilience they can then carry into adulthood.