Lived Experience to Leadership: Youth Paid Internships

Youth economic advancement

County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit)

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Youth experiencing homelessness face systemic barriers to economic mobility, including trauma, unstable housing, discrimination, and limited access to education and employment. Traditional job programs often fail to support transition-age youth (TAY), especially LGBTQ+ youth, youth of color, and foster youth who are overrepresented in the unhoused population. As a result, many are excluded from the workforce and locked in cycles of poverty and instability. Simultaneously, LA’s nonprofit and homeless services sectors face critical staffing shortages, particularly of leaders with lived experience, despite growing recognition that peer-informed solutions lead to better outcomes. SPY’s Youth Paid Internship Program confronts these intersecting issues by offering youth trauma-informed job training, professional mentorship, and paid experience in social services, creating a pipeline of skilled, resilient leaders ready to shape more equitable systems from within.

SPY’s Youth Paid Internship Program is a trauma-informed workforce development initiative tailored to the needs and strengths of youth ages 16–25 experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The program provides flexible, low-barrier internships embedded within SPY’s own departments: outreach, housing, community garden, health and wellness, drop-in center, and education and employment services. This service-integrated approach affirms youth as valuable team members while offering practical experience, mentorship, and leadership development. Interns also participate in structured professional development, including resume and cover letter workshops, financial literacy training, job shadowing, and career exploration.
The program is grounded in equity and healing. It offers flexible schedules, wraparound support, and individualized mentorship to help youth navigate work responsibilities alongside housing instability, mental health needs, or caregiving responsibilities. With this grant, SPY will expand the program’s reach by creating additional intern placements, strengthening mentor training, and connecting internship graduates with jobs, education, or entrepreneurship opportunities. Ultimately, this program equips youth with tools to transition from crisis to stability and creates a scalable model for trauma-informed employment pathways to build confidence and increase long-term employability.

If successful, the Youth Paid Internship Program will help transform the landscape of youth workforce development in Los Angeles County by providing a scalable, trauma-informed model that bridges economic opportunity and housing stability. Youth experiencing or at-risk of homelessness will gain access to paid work, mentorship, and career pathways that center healing and equity, while providing immediate economic relief. The program will contribute to breaking cycles of poverty, reduce reliance on crisis systems, and strengthen community resilience. It will also help fill critical staffing gaps in the nonprofit and homeless services sectors by building a pipeline of leaders with lived experience—ensuring that those most impacted are shaping and driving systems-change efforts across LA County.