Youth Encouragement Services, or YES, has been helping children in Nashville for nearly fifty years.  They specialize in helping at risk children in inner city areas maximize their full potential through offering after school programs from tutoring to fall and winter basketball.  

Academics: YES offers back to school services, providing pencils, paper, etc. to children whose families struggle to provide them with the necessary school supplies.  They offer homework help and after school tutoring, and they don’t forget to reward the kids for exceptional effort.  Academic achievement is rewarded at the end of the year with a special field trip for honor roll kids. 

College Scholarships- It is extremely rare to find viable scholarship opportunities for inner city kids, but YES has done just that, thanks to the generosity of their donors.  

Technology: New technology is increasingly important to upcoming generations, but unfortunately is not always available to these at risk children.YES has that covered too.  

They have three centers in Nashville, all with top of the line computer labs to teach common programs like Excel and Powerpoint to older students, and interactive educational computer games for the younger students.  

Community Service:  At risk children are often so wrapped up in trying to survive the trials of their own immediate environments, that they forget, or are never taught, that there is a whole world out there that they are a part of as well.  

Compassion and service are vital components to the YES philosophy.  They encourage and provide opportunities to visit the elderly, paint houses, and even provide disaster relief.  

Activities:  It’s been shown over and over again that kids who are provided with fun activities are less likely to get in trouble.  

Youth Encouragement Services provides a plethora of activities for children to choose from, from sports for the athletically inclined, to music lessons and access to instruments for the musically inclined.  If athletics or music isn’t your thing you can choose from photography, wood carving, or gardening activities.  

Since Youth Encouragement Services provides such a huge range of services for these kids, they need as much help as they can get from generous donors, and willing volunteers.  

For more information contact Youth Encouragment Services at 521 McIver Street, Nashville TN 37211 by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone, 615-315-5333.