WHY CHOOSE YBIT? THE CONNECTIONS NEVER QUIT!
WHO ARE WE?
Brought together by the Global Youth Entrepreneurs (GYE) Online Innovation Startup Camp in May of 2020, we are a group of 4 highly-motivated youth from the United States of America and Ukraine that want to utilize our language abilities to improve the immigration experience for other youth.
WHY START YBIT?
Recognizing that there are 1,000,000 immigrants that migrate to the United States each year (27,000 of which are teenagers) and around 250,000 immigrants that migrate to Ukraine each year, we saw that there were thousands of teens thrown into unfamiliar countries every year with little to no support. The resettlement agencies and immigration service organizations are always geared toward adults. There isn't the same kind of support provided to youth immigrants. Through our surveys, we discovered that these youths struggle with schoolwork, getting to know the local area, as well as language. As local youth, we are uniquely positioned to be able to help youth immigrants acclimate, helping them make friends, join clubs, and generally have a better immigration experience.
WHAT IS YBIT?
We have decided to start 4 different language-based programs, lessening the difficulties of immigration by breaking down the language barrier. We hope to form one-on-one connections between our mentors and our mentees, in a mutually rewarding relationship. Besides gaining community service hours, our mentors get the ability to form new friendships as well. We hope to also organize gatherings for our programs in the future, where entire language programs can get together, allowing these youth immigrants that have all shared a similar experience to form bonds.
With our current pilot program, we have participants from 24 different countries in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa.