Programs at the Youth Opportunity Hub
Young Entrepreneur Culinary Training Program – Interested in a career in the culinary field? Participants ages 14-24 can receive their food handler, SafeServ certifications, and a $200 stipend upon completion of the program! Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2:30pm and 3:30-5pm. Learn more and register here.
Girls with Impact is your opportunity to launch your CEO era! Learn the basics of how to build and run a business in this 10 week academy program training New York’s young women as tomorrow’s leaders. All classes are free and held online on Thursdays at 4pm. Learn more and register here.
College Access is a one-stop shop for supporting high school students in grades 9–12 with post-secondary planning including college tours & trips, information sessions with colleges and other post-secondary options, college application workshops, building a college list and essay, financial aid and scholarships information, and more. These services are available in-person at our Youth Opportunity Hub, Monday through Friday 4pm – 5:30pm either 1:1 and/or in small groups with an advisor. If you are interested, please complete our interest form and an advisor will reach out with more information.
The Opportunity Hub is focused on learning and developing interests, featuring a customized service menu designed to eliminate any barriers to success. Each member of our Hub will receive an Individual Service Strategy, that connects them to the particular range of services and supports needed to succeed.
Each of our services will lead to track-based experiences, rooted in entrepreneurship and strategic thinking. Our tracks will help youth translate their interests into marketable skills. Tracks will include Tech, STEM, Culinary Arts, Fitness, Creative Arts, Medical and Music.
Current offerings include:
Fitness Studio & Wellness Center
Martial Arts & Kickboxing (Mondays at 3pm)
Afro-Caribbean Dance (Wednesdays at 3pm and 5pm)
Hip-Hop Dance (Wednesdays at 4pm)
Ballet (Thursdays at 4pm)
Zumba (Thursdays at 6pm)
The Fitness Studio will offer certificate bearing training programming for students in high growth areas such as personal training, Health Coach, Sports Nutrition, and Certified Group Fitness Instructor (including Pilates, yoga, cycling, and HIIT). Students will then offer classes to the community as part of their training.
Culinary Arts Training Kitchen
Young Entrepreneur Culinary Training Program – Interested in a career in the culinary field? Participants ages 14-24 can receive their food handler, SafeServ certifications, and a $200 stipend upon completion of the program! Classes will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1-2:30pm and 3:30-5pm. Learn more and register here.
Commonpoint Cafe + Kiosk – COMING SOON!
Commonpoint Café will provide practical hospitality training while serving freshly made food and specialty espresso-based coffee in our bright, welcoming café. Participants will gain real-world experience and confidence in a public facing environment. Commonpoint Queens’ social enterprise and training program is designed to be self supporting providing on-the-job training for the students while also generating revenue to support our mission.
Digital Food Pantry
Monday 11-2PM
Tuesday: 9AM -2PM & 3:30PM -6PM
Wednesday: 11AM-2PM
Thursday: 9AM-2PM
Friday: 9AM-2PM & 3:30PM -6PM
Rates of food insecurity have skyrocketed to one in four children experiencing hunger since the pandemic began in March 2020. Our digital food pantry prioritizes dignity, client choice, and cultural sensitivity enabling customers to place their grocery orders online and schedule their pick-up time. This is ideal for working adults who cannot take time off of work to get to the pantry.
For more information about our food pantries, click here
Allied Health Training
Learn more about our Opportunity Youth Allied Health Trainings here
Allied Health Jobs in health care offer good pay, flexibility and job security. In addition, individuals can continue to build their career through stackable credentials, while working.
Training Lab/STEM Programs
CompTIA Certification with Per Scholas (Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm)
Computer Building (Mondays at 4pm)
Girls Who Code (Tuesdays at 6pm)
Animation Project (Tuesdays at 4pm)
Low-income communities often do not have access to tech and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills-building programs. This lack of access leads to many minority and immigrant workers being underrepresented in these high-growth, high- paying professions. The Training Lab will offer free skills training including a bridge program designed to build participants’ key literacy and STEM skills, alongside curricula aligned with corresponding vocational certification courses.
Mental Health Office
Youth, ages 12-21 are neither children nor adults and often their specific medical needs are misdiagnosed and minimized as well as very little detection and action around social issues such as food and housing insecurity. Our innovative model is in response to the significant increase in the mental health needs of young people and directly addresses the unique issues faced by high needs youth by providing barrier-free access to medical, mental health, and social services while fostering collaboration among a multidisciplinary team of practitioners and building a partnership with families to develop shared plans of care.
Creative Arts Lab
Visual Arts (Mondays and Wednesdays at 4pm)
Animation Projects (Tuesdays at 4pm)
Set the Scene – Drama Class (Wednesdays at 6pm)
Upcycling (Thursdays at 6pm)
Henna (Fridays at 4pm)
Lower-income neighborhoods have fewer access to cultural resources. The mission of the Creative Arts Lab is to support and nurture young people from some of the highest poverty areas of New York City to follow their curiosity to explore innovative ideas, artistic expression. Participants will create meaningful art and be empowered to create work that is meaningful, sustainable and oriented to a market need. Students will be able to develop critical skills through the operation of a gallery to sell their products.
Sound Engineering Studio
Building Beats (Mondays at 4pm)
Music Production (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm)
Young people of color and those living in low-income households often do not have access to explore opportunities in the growing world of audio tech. The Studio will nurture young people as they explore, experiment, and create new works of music, speech, and sound effects from inception to presentation. Participants will learn about new technologies, equipment, and techniques in audio engineering while building a supportive community of makers, enthusiasts, and creative partners.
Join Our Programs