Youth Industry is a grassroots organization founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1993 by Dr. Jake Sinclair and his wife Lee.  Our primary goal has always been to help bay area homeless and at-risk youth gain access to education and support.

We originally started our outreach efforts in San Francisco’s Mission District as a Youth Drop in Center. By the end of the first year we had expanded the program to include mentorships, vocational training and counseling. By year 3 we were employing over 45 youth full time and providing on the job training in our own Restaurant, Thrift Stores, Recycled Merchandise operation, Silk Screening and Bicycle Shops.

Many of these youth have successfully made the transition from street life to mainstream employment,  lead productive lives in their chosen field, have families and become mentors themselves. The original staff of Youth Industry continue to leave their mark as many have chosen to stay in the non profit sector and maintain their focus on healing and empowering young people.

Today Youth Industry continues to support street outreach programs in the Bay Area including : Larkin Street, Huckleberry House, New Door Ventures, Pedal Revolution, Community Vocational Enterprises, Harbor House and several others. These programs provide counseling, peer support, temporary housing and family re-unification. They also provide opportunities for Bay Area homeless and “at-risk” youth to gain on the job training and eventually, full time employment.

In 2002 we expanded our program to provide support to the burgeoning numbers of street children affected by HIV/AID’s in other parts of the world. Lee and I visited East Africa in 2003 to see if our YI expertise could cross over in the care and empowerment of AIDS orphans. We have since formed YI sister groups in Kenya which provide housing, classroom construction, school uniforms, feeding programs and fees for homeless children and AIDS orphans.

Over the last seventeen years, your donations, as well as donations from several Bay Area Foundations have enabled us to provide jobs and ultimately a new life for thousands of youth here and abroad who were without hope or help. On their behalf, we offer you our most sincere thanks.

Please call if you have any other questions regarding our programs.

Sincerely,

Jake Sinclair MD
Executive Director