Walking into YouthLinks, a youth community service organization in Rockland, Maine, feels like walking into somebody’s home. You enter through a side door that leads to a mudroom, stuffed with shoes and coats that belong to a mix of adults and students. Up a few steps is the kitchen, where you’re likely to see someone, maybe a volunteer, washing her dishes after lunch. Pass by the island breakfast counter and you’re in the living room, a good place to setup board games on the carpeted floor. Off to the side, there is a small nook where one of the walls has been converted into a blackboard – perfect for Pictionary or a spontaneous burst of creativity. The place exudes welcoming, and after a few minutes you feel comfortable enough to walk into the kitchen, pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit down to read the paper.

But then Amie Hutchison emerges, YouthLinks Program Director. Her arrival from the upstairs area of the house, her obvious comfort in her surroundings, and her shoelessness, make it difficult to remember that she doesn’t live there. As she takes you on a tour of the building, she points out the kitchen, the site of the afternoon “Global Chefs” program; the hallway, lined with posters from student’s projects (including an entry into the Maine Boats Homes and Harbors “Boatyard Dog” Competition – they won first prize); the back yard garden, maintained by students and volunteers (the land is on free lease from Rockland High School); and the study room, where students come for homework help and SAT tutoring. As you stand in the study, Rockland High school visible out the back window, it is clear what a strong connection YouthLinks has with the local school system. “The purpose,” Amie mentions, “is to offer after school programs that will improve day school performance.” As she notes the student’s measurable improvements in GPA, test scores and school attendance, it is evident that YouthLinks achieves exactly what it aims to do.

YouthLinks, founded in 1981 by PROJECTS, Inc. and first named the “Community Service Corps,” was originally conceived as a way to link the activity needs of young teens with the home maintenance needs of elderly people. Some of the organization’s first projects included basic home chores such as mowing lawns, taking out the trash, baking cookies, shoveling snow and raking leaves. Eventually, the program evolved into more complicated home construction projects, including, with the help of adult volunteer supervisors, building wheelchair ramps, fixing home wiring and plumbing, gardening and other home renovations. As a reward for student’s service, after every 150 volunteer hours the Community Service Corps would host pizza parties, camping excursions, mall shopping trips and one wildly popular trip to Boston to ride the underground T for a day.

By 1985, the program was renamed the Community Service Project. By this time, the organization was producing wheelchair ramps by the dozens, resulting in over 100 installations across Knox, Lincoln and Waldo counties. In August of 1990, the Community Service Project was selected as the #227 American Point of Light by George H.W. Bush.

The organization continued to grow, and by the end of 1995 the operation had evolved into its own corporation, renamed itself Community Service Project, Inc., and relocated to its current building next to Rockland, High School. Shortly after the turn of the century, the organization renamed itself again, this time settling upon “YouthLinks,” the name under which it operates today.

In 2006, YouthLinks partnered with Broadreach (www.broadreachmaine.org), an umbrella family and community services nonprofit organization, which helped YouthLinks secure a 21st Century Grant from the Maine Department of Education. The partnership has been crucial to the future success of YouthLinks. As Amie Hutchison recognizes, “The 21st Century Grant wouldn’t have happened without Broadreach.”

Now in its 28th year of operation since its beginnings as the Community Service Project, YouthLinks currently welcomes students ages 11-17 in the Rockland area. The organization runs 4 sessions a year, including two 12 week sessions, one six week session and an eight week summer camp. Approximately 90 students enroll in each session, participating in a wide range of community service projects from recycling to helping community members weatherize their homes with state issued “Keep ME Warm” kits. For more information, visit YouthLinksOnline.org.

“Odd Jobs,” established by PROJECTS in 1979, developed as an outgrowth of the organization’s “Knox County Youth Employment Training Program.” The participants, who had been developing employment skills through community service work, approached PROJECTS with a proposal: “Can we start getting paid for the work we’re doing?” Impressed by the kids’ initiative, the PROJECTS staff came back with an even better offer: “Not only will you get paid for the work, we’ll include you in the running of the business.”

Thus with a little seed money from PROJECTS, interested employment training program participants created their own small business, “Odd Jobs,” that specialized in maintenance jobs around the community. “They did everything from tearing down old chicken coops to stacking wood for elderly people,” recalls Perry Gates of PROJECTS.

To operate the business, the kids helped track expenses, place advertisements, and bill clients. The program served as an entrepreneurial “boot camp” of sorts, and the participants quickly learned that the best way to get clients was through creative marketing: one week running an advertisement for the new “rent-a-kid” service in town.

By 1981, the Community Service Project (“CSP,” later “YouthLinks”) was underway with a large number of midcoast students participating in community service work. To encourage participants to volunteer more of their time, CSP and PROJECTS staff decided to offer an incentive: for every 150 hours of volunteer work, students earned 20 hours of paid “Odd Jobs” work.

By linking “Odd Jobs” with “CSP” and boosting total volunteer hours, PROJECTS was able to strengthen CSP’s value to the community. The combination benefited the students as well, allowing them to experience the different sense of reward from volunteer service versus paid payment. It also gave them the opportunity to participate in the basics of operations, something they weren’t able to do at CSP. While a PROJECTS staff member was required to be present during “Odd Jobs” planning or at a job site, their role was that of supervisor, not teacher.

“The real educational value was in the struggles of the business experience,” recalls Gates. “Who’s keeping the equipment clean? How are we getting to the next job site? What can we do to make this client happy?