
Emma Mosco-Flint and Matt Ryan, an instructor from The Talking Farm, harvest chives in Y.O.U.’s garden.

Jeremiah Dixon and Amir Woodfork wash bowls while making Elote at Y.O.U’s in-house kitchen.
Huddled over a lush garden bed on a humid July afternoon, Emma Mosco-Flint dusted off a bunch of disfigured carrots before moving on to a bed of tall, ripe chives.
While her peers washed squash and chard in a patio sink, the 15-year-old hip-hop dancer and soon-to-be sophomore harvested the urban vegetable garden behind Youth & Opportunity United’s headquarters west of downtown Evanston. A participant of their Food, Farming and Future program, or F3, Emma values the opportunity to learn how to manage a garden and share the organic produce with her community.
“I really like learning what’s in my food. As a dancer, I care about what I’m putting in my body and where it’s coming from,” Emma said.
Youth & Opportunity United (Y.O.U.), an Evanston youth development agency that offers year-round social and emotional learning programs to 1,600 young people and their families, hosts a range of additional summer programs intended to expand local students’ horizons and prepare them for post-secondary and lifelong success.
“That’s really the point of our programming – to really expand your vision of what you can be,” Maggie Blinn DiNovi, CEO of Y.O.U., said about the impact the organization strives to make on Evanston students, especially those enrolled at Evanston Township High School (ETHS).
Y.O.U.’s mission reflects the work of the Evanston Neighborhood Network, a coalition of community partners who have joined forces with United Way of Metro Chicago to improve racial and ethnic parity for African American and Latinx students. Broadly, Y.O.U. and other Network partners aim to prepare all young adults to lead happy, healthy, productive and satisfying lives.