What Are Youth Corps?  Youth Corps are independent non-profit organizations which serve needs in communities by taking on labor-intensive conservation and community development work while at the same time giving youth aged 16 to 25 job skills, work ethic, and educational opportunities.  Colorado has 11 such regional Corps.

Who are the Colorado Range Riders?  The Range Riders are not only the newest Youth Corps in Colorado, but also cover the most geography, serving all of eastern Colorado (16 counties, encompassing almost everything east of I-25)  The Colorado Range Rider Youth Corps (CRR) is a summer corps.  We focus on giving opportunities to eastern Colorado youth during the months of June, July & August.  

How Does the Program Work?  Youth are hired for an eight to ten week season that may include trail work, park building, noxious weed mitigation, habitat building and other labor-intensive work for the public good.  Youth work in “crews” typically consisting of 10 youth and two adults.  Because of the vastness of the Eastern Plains, Youth meet and travel on Sunday afternoons, and camp at their worksite for the work week.  Crews generally work four 10-hour days, thus striking camp and returning home on Thursday evenings.  While enrolled in the program, youth not only receive their weekly pay, but also receive educational opportunities related to the work they are doing; some are even eligible for $1000.00 AmeriCorps Education Awards. 

How Does the Program Work with Communities?  The Range Rider Youth Corps participates in projects on a fee-for-service basis, and only accepts work with positive community impact.  Entities can take advantage of this high-quality labor solution for a variety of projects.  In many cases, use of the Youth Corps has a positive impact on a community’s efforts to procure grant monies for these types of projects, and the CRR is willing to assist entities during the grant-writing process. 

Who are the youth?  The youth (aged 16-25) served by the organization are from Eastern Colorado.  Our demographics vary in ways one might expect of the region.  In most past seasons, the ratio was nearly equal between male and female participants.  Youth were largely White, with the percentage of Hispanic, Native American, and African American participants being consistent with regional demographics.   While some of these youth may be considered “high risk” others may be honor students.  Youth are interviewed and hired as if it were any other job. 

What is the need for this type of program?  The rural prairie communities of eastern Colorado have a great need -- all of these eastern counties have high child-poverty rates, and nearly half surpass the state averages for teen pregnancy or idle teens (those youth not in school or employed.)  However, the resources and infrastructure required to support a youth corps program do not exist in any one of these cities or towns.  Thus, the Range Riders were launched with a “circuit rider” approach, by which one organization will bring Youth Corps services to all 16 counties in the region. 

How is the Corps Funded?  While the Colorado Range Riders does operate on a fee-for-service basis, payment for weeks of work done by the Corps only covers 60-70% of the costs needed to run the organization.    The rest is made up in private donations, grants, etc.   

Has the organization been successful?  In 2003, the CRR hired one crew of youth.  In both 2004 and 2005 two crews were hired, with an eventual goal for six crews, or 60 youth, served annually.   In 2005 the Crews completed over 5600 hours of service at Eastern Colorado sites.  Youth also received educational opportunities.  They explored bird watching, prairie history, noxious weeds and more.  A total of 26 AmeriCorps scholarships have been earned by CRR participants during the past three seasons