RMYC fosters strong leadership among youth through the completion of community based projects. Corpsmembers discover their value within the community by completing projects such as building parks and walking trails, restoring forest habitat, enhancing community facilities, building and restoring low-income housing, providing service learning and tutoring, facilitating inter-generational literacy programs in elementary schools, and more. Their service projects provide the “classroom” for academic learning, critical thinking, problem solving and practical application. As crews work together to complete projects, they gain experience with healthy interactions in a safe atmosphere. Corpsmembers leave RMYC with increased social competence, problem solving skills, autonomy and sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. These skills allow them to transition from RMYC with more directedness, resourcefulness, and more awareness and ability to make healthy personal choices. In addition to outcomes related directly to corpsmembers’ growth, the projects that they complete also significantly impact the health of our community.