For over four decades, Eastside Community Network (ECN) has used our resources and tools to support youth living in our community. Today, our youth programs focus on the holistic development of each young person — ensuring that our program participants are academically, physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially prepared for post-secondary school success.
What is EYC?
The Eastside Youth Collective
The Eastside Youth Collective is a community-centered leadership program for young people ages 13–18 who live, learn, or gather on Detroit’s Eastside. Eastside Youth Collective is a wraparound teen program housed within the Stoudamire Wellness Hub. The youth program aims to assist with personal growth, professional development, college, and career readiness while helping develop a relationship between teens and their neighborhoods and communities. Powered by the Eastside Community Network, EYC provides youth with the tools, relationships, and resources to shape the future of their neighborhoods — and their own lives.
The Eastside Youth Collective Teen Center resides in the Butterfly Room where teens can chill and build community and camaraderie. Eastside Youth Collective members have access to enroll in the various components of our program including; the Eastside Scholars College and Career Readiness Program, the Detroit Jewels Community Exploration, the Youth Ambassadors Program, along with a variety of Stoudamire Classes, Clubs, and Events.
By enrolling your young person you are setting them up to:
Gain valuable Leadership skills to become leaders in their neighborhoods and communities.
Develop their social awareness and understanding of systems to become change-makers and advocates for their communities.
Be supported through their mental, emotional, personal, and professional development.
Have access to a variety of opportunities that are interactive, engaging, and educational.
Our Work
Eastside Scholars College and Career Readiness Program
Get your young person prepped for their next step
Eastside Scholars is our college readiness and academic achievement program. Each week, youth are able to work on their homework and receive academic assistance from staff and specialized tutors. We also work with Seniors during this time on developing their plans for post graduation and offer assistance with the FAFSA, college applications and scholarship searches.
Summer Youth Employment Program
Looking for a Summer Job?
The Summer Youth Employment Program connects Eastside teens and young adults with meaningful work experiences that build skills, confidence, and pathways to future careers. Through partnerships with local businesses, community organizations, and citywide initiatives, participants gain hands-on experience while earning a paycheck and contributing to the growth of their neighborhoods.
In addition to job placements, youth receive professional development, financial literacy training, mentorship, and support in exploring college and career opportunities. The program creates a supportive environment where young people can learn, lead, and discover their strengths — all while making a positive impact on Detroit’s Eastside.
Detroit Eastside Climate Action Youth (DECAY)
Leading bold climate action on the Eastside.
The Detroit Eastside Climate Action Youth (DECAY) program transforms the power of young people into bold, creative action for environmental justice. DECAY embraces its name with purpose — taking what’s been neglected, overlooked, or breaking down in our neighborhoods and turning it into fuel for change. Through art, advocacy, science, and storytelling, youth explore how climate issues show up on the Eastside and how they can lead solutions that restore and reimagine their community.
Participants dive into real-world learning about air quality, flooding, green spaces, heat islands, and the systems that shape environmental inequity. They work alongside organizers, artists, engineers, and resident leaders to design projects that make a tangible impact — from community education to environmental monitoring to hands-on resilience work.
Youth Ambassadors Program
The next generation of leaders
The Youth Ambassadors Program is designed to train youth leaders in community power building and develop their leadership skills through active civic engagement. The Eastside Youth Ambassadors provide insight to ECN staff in uplifting the issues that young people face and will be the leaders in addressing the systemic issues they would like to see change.
To learn more about the Eastside Youth Collective, contact Caitlin Crutcher at ccrutcher@ecn-detroit.org or (313) 331-3287.