Youth Center

The Youth Center provides an entry point for youth who are new to the program and offers a safe after school alternative to the streets. Youth use the internet, play video games, pool and ping-pong, watch movies, use DJ equipment and enjoy themselves while building meaningful friendships.

Digital Recording Studio and Film Making

The Artistic Expression Program is an innovative program that exposes youth to Digital Film Making, and Digital Audio Recording. With access to and training on state-of-the-art digital media and technology, youth learn marketable skills, build self-esteem and through films, documentaries, song, raps, poems, creative writing and dance, voice the pain and joy in their lives. This program is supported by staff and volunteers that are professionals in the music industry. Workshops in Writing for Music, Filmmaking, Making Beats, Final Cut Pro HD and Pro Tools are offered throughout the year. Visit YouthSpace.net for films created by our kids and check out our YouTube video promo below.

Trips and Activities

Sunset Youth Services aims to expand youths' minds and open up their worlds by exposing them to new experiences that will bolster self-esteem, foster friendship, and make for memories of a lifetime. From plays and amusement parks to horseback riding and camping-such trips and activities equip and prepare youth for the world beyond their neighborhood.

Campus Support

Youth workers spend time on the campus of AP Giannini Middle School during the lunch hour in order to build relationships with youth and promote a positive environment where youth feel supported, heard and understood and are more receptive to learning and achieving their best. Such relationships present the forum for staff members to encourage youth to get involved in beneficial after-school programs and activities as well as respond to difficult or dangerous situations that arise in the lives of youth.

High School and Beyond Girls Group

High School and Beyond Girls Group helps young women navigate the storms of adolescence. This quarterly gathering presents social and recreational activities as a vehicle for building friendships and talking frankly about the issues that weigh heavily on young women's minds.

Middle School Girls Group

Middle School Girls Group meets once a week to honestly discuss and deal with the burning issues that urban girls face, such as family dynamics, dating relationships, gender roles, drug selling and using, sex, STDs, pregnancy, violence and life goals. Facilitated by Sunset Youth Services staff, this group is specifically designed to help keep girls in school by providing positive peer and adult support.

Book Club

Book Club meets during the school year on campus at AP Giannini Middle School. The girls meet once a week and choose books that they read and discuss during lunchtime. Sunset Youth Services staff facilitate the group and help the girls build skills in literacy and reading comprehension as well as fostering a love of reading.

Literacy Enrichment & Skill Building

In collaborative with AP Giannini Middle School and the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center, Sunset Youth Services provides a Literacy and Basic Skill-Building Class on the campus of A.P. Giannini Middle School. Taught by a dedicated teacher and supported by in-class youth workers, the class targets youth who often do not respond well to traditional academic structures.

Community Computer Lab

The Community Computer Lab provides youth and community members with access to and training on computers. Provided by a generous grant from Hewlett Packard, the lab is made up of 12 laptops, a printer, an LCD projector and wireless network access. The lab is available to the community during the day, including schools that use the lab for their classes and for youth after school.

Homework Assistance

The Homework Assistance program provides youth with drop-in access to staff and volunteers to support them on their daily homework assignments. Not being a traditional tutoring program this model allows youth to grow in areas that are challenging for them while completing their assignments.