When the laser-focused goal is to help young people succeed, everyone is welcome at the table.

“Collaboration is key, especially throughout the county of San Bernardino. So when we have these great collaborations through a collective impact … everyone has something to bring to the table,” said Terrance Stone, CEO of Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy. “We’re trying to put together a feast – and the feast is success.”

Strategically located in the heart of downtown San Bernardino, Young Visionaries provides a community resource center with programs for at-risk youth, including workforce development, job skills, mentoring, gang intervention and the largest initiative, mental health. Representatives also engage with young people and their families in their neighborhoods as well as at schools, juvenile detention centers and apartment buildings.

“And the places where people don’t even want to go because we know there’s kids in there and there’s families in there that need us,” Stone said. “The only way to know we’re here is for us to go where they’re at.”

These multi-pronged efforts received recognition with the Inland Empire Health Plan’s (IEHP) 2024 Inspire Award, which “honors a provider, entity or community partner that exemplifies our Mission, ‘We heal and inspire the human spirit.’”

Among the issues the target audience for Young Visionaries face includes gangs, human trafficking, homelessness and poverty – all of which can lead to feeling lost, Stone said.

And he would know.

“I was one of those young people. I was one of those young people that people gave up on, forgot about, threw away,” Stone said. “So coming back, I wanted to make sure I go and reach and grab some of those young people.”