Promise
Building up the Youth of today to become the compassionate and empowered adults of tomorrow.
Our Mission
To support and defend the dignity and equity of the individual through the philosophy and practices of Restorative Justice in the community.
Who We Are
We are a group of like-minded professionals that have come together to provide curriculum and support for schools and other community programs to build a stronger sense of community through Restorative Justice philosophy and practices. Our ultimate goal is to empower youth to become the most caring parents, partners, co-workers, and community members of tomorrow, by stepping into the power of their authentic selves today.
What We Do
We do this by building individualized curricula for each unique school or program culture. Teach students, faculty, administration, and parents a comprehensive Restorative Justice curriculum and practices. Help schools and other programs to shift from a punitive approach to a restorative justice community-based learning environment of dignity, respect, and unity. Building Up Youth also provides ongoing support to secure the success of each school or program to build a connected and restorative environment for each community member.
We also provide other community-based training, including four-day retreats for learning how to effectively facilitate youth circles.
Our Impact
In the 2017-18 school year we built and taught in one school, Salt Lake Center for Science Education. We worked with the student body of 400 students and the faculty and staff of approximately 35. Our initiative directly impacted each member of the school community. Providing an opportunity for each of them to have a safe non-threatening place to work through their problems and build a stronger community. We have also seen the skills that they learned through our practices used with their families and extended communities. This initiative is ongoing and is supported on a consultation basis.
From 2018-2022 we worked with Horizonte Instruction and Training Center. Where we supported the full implementation of Restorative Justice in Education for the whole school community. We worked directly with them on a daily basis at all levels of the community. Including the youth programs and the adult programs when needed. This is a highly diverse community with over 140 languages being represented by the students. In total this community consists of over 900 community members.
During the pandemic, our focus shifted to helping students and their families to have their basic economic, emotional, and technological needs fulfilled. We were given the privilege of partnering with both the State of Utah and L3Harris to be funded for this project. We provided 40 computers for the school, provided hundreds of hygiene products to students and their families, kept 19 families from becoming homeless, and provided over $30,000 worth of food for members of the community.
During the 2022-2023 school year, we have been teaching a leadership class at SLCSE-Bryant Middle School. The students have been learning leadership skills and learning that student voice matters by presenting to the SIC committee and leading school-wide initiatives.
Throughout the years we have also partnered with and supported numerous community organizations and programs to support and train youth, youth mentors, and families in restorative justice philosophy and practices.
We are actively seeking our next big project. If you are interested in implementing Restorative Justice in your school or other community program please reach out to us.
Book Store:
We have a book store through Square that allows you to directly get books through us about Restorative Justice. Purchasing the books through us is one way we fund our program, and they are amazing books!
Contact Us
Alex Yrungaray
Salt Lake City, UT 84103
Youth Programs Powered by:
Community Mediation Foundation