Youth Collaboratory stands with Communities Devastated by Wildfires, Flooding, and Hurricanes

At the time of writing this, nearly 4,018,888 acres of land have tragically burnt in California, marking the largest wildfire season in the state’s history. Images have haunted the media of red skies, charred homes, and abandoned pets. Sadly, these fires are not new or unique. 

The brush fires of Australia, which burnt 46,000,000 acres of land, gave us similar images of smokey neighborhoods, badly injured animals, and devastated farmlands. As those fires raged on, young people began to fight harder and louder for a safer environment and a worldwide response to Global Warming. 

It was in September of 2019, as the Australian brush fires spiraled out of control, Greta Thunberg, a 16 year old from Sweden, crossed the Atlantic Ocean to speak to the United Nations. She spoke with passion, knowledge, and integrity. She pleaded with world leaders to take action to protect the Earth that her generation will inherit. At the Global Climate Strike that month, Thunberg proclaimed, “Together and united, we can never be defeated.” 

Youth Collaboratory stands with youth leaders across the country, united to protect and defend the Earth they are slated to inherit. We strive to especially lift up the voices of young people of color, who are not only helping to lead this movement, but will be disproportionately impacted by climate change. We recognize that our unification with the voices of young people is essential for unlocking the next generation’s limitless potential. 

It is in our core principles to support youth leaders fighting for change and have produced this outline on how to design meaningful youth opportunities across the youth services field. Additionally, Youth Catalyst Dash Togi authored this blog, “Youth and Young Adult Leadership Advances the Field”. We hope these help you achieve more authentic partnership and collaboration. 

While we, as a youth service organization, may not be able to directly stop the devastation of these wildfires across our west coast communities, we stand with our members and partners as they battle and experience these tragic instances of environmental injustice. Furthermore, we stand with the young leaders fighting for immediate and drastic change to protect our planet.