Humble Beginnings

In the summer of 1992

A group of San Jose high school and college students came together to share a common concern and vision. They observed family members and friends involved in gang violence, drug abuse, school truancy, dropping out of school, participating in non-constructive activities. Factors that led to these behaviors involved the lack of direction, positive motivation, non-existent or no access to youth services. There were very limited choices available to youth to that could assist in their development, especially regarding to their culturally challenging identity crisis.

These young visionaries felt an urgency and were determined to organize to address these issues in their community and develop alternatives and solutions for youth. The students hosted informal meetings in garages of families sympathetic to their cause. Eventually, the informal meetings developed into an official non-profit organization in 1993, called Filipino Youth Coalition (FYC), serving youth across the South Bay.