Empowering Students to Succeed

Founded in 1969, Dynamy Internship Year is one of the most established and respected gap year programs in the country. Internship Year is a domestic, experiential gap year program for young adults ages 17 to 22 who want to learn differently. For a full academic year or semester, students from across the country are immersed in real-world activities and supported by mentors while living and interning in Worcester – resulting in increased focus, maturity, self-awareness, and critical thinking skills.  Students are taught to find and use their own strengths, confidence, passions, values, and leadership qualities.

Thank you to our community partners for your generous donations.

Florence V. Burden Foundation

YOU Inc. is grateful for a recent grant of $1,875 from the Florence V. Burden Foundation, made at the request of family members Nicholas and Jean Childs.

This funding will support Dynamy John S. Laws Youth Academy. This after-school college access program creates a path to higher education for promising low-income, first-generation students in Worcester. Youth Academy provides essential academic support, leadership development, and community service opportunities, outdoor experiential education, exposure to cultural events, college tours, admission and financial aid education, and family events and engagement.

We are proud to partner with the Florence V. Burden Foundation and the Child's family to ensure that our students stay on track academically, thrive personally, and contribute meaningfully to their schools and communities.

Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation

YOU, Inc. is grateful for a generous grant of $25,000 from the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee to support the Dynamy John S. Laws Youth Academy. Youth Academy provides essential services for promising, first-generation high school students in the city of Worcester. In the year ahead, the Balfour Foundation’s investment will provide academic support, leadership development, community service opportunities, outdoor experiential education, college tours, admission and financial aid education, and family events and engagement. The foundation’s support will ensure that our students stay on track academically, thrive personally, and contribute meaningfully to their schools and communities.

Polly and Dick Traina Fund

YOU, Inc. is grateful for a grant in the amount of $4,730 from the Polly and Dick Traina Fund for YOU, Inc., administered by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. Over many years, the Traina's generous support for our agency – and so many others – has made a significant impact in the lives of thousands of youth and families in the city of Worcester.

Both natives of the San Francisco Bay area, Margaret "Polly" Traina, her late husband Richard and their four children embraced Worcester as their own when Dick assumed the Presidency of Clark University in 1984.  Polly and Dick invested substantial time and energy in not just the affairs of the university but in the education of children living in neighborhoods surrounding the campus. With a shared commitment to an exceptional education for every Child, no matter their circumstances, Polly and Dick were vital contributors to many endeavors and organizations.  Dick and his entire administrative team at Clark were instrumental to the conception and realization of the University Park Campus School, which continues to shape the future for promising students every day.

From the Main South Neighborhood Association to Habitat for Humanity, the Worcester Art Museum, ArtsWorcester, and the Worcester Community Action Council, Polly and Dick left their mark on countless projects and agencies that benefited youth and families across the city of Worcester and beyond.

This grant will be invested in the Dynamy John S. Laws Youth Academy program.

 As it has in many years past, the Traina family's continued and thoughtful support will ensure that these deserving students will have full access to a quality education and the opportunity to achieve their personal and professional dreams.