Youth Automotive Training Center Welcomes Class of 2019

The Youth Automotive Training Center (YATC) recently welcomed its 40th class – 30 young people between the ages of 17 and 21 who are ready to make a big statement: “I want to better my life.”

Download high-resolution photos with captions from the first day of school at the Youth Automotive Training Center
 
Many of these youth, who live in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, come from troubled or disadvantaged backgrounds and will now spend the next nine months gearing up for a brighter future as part of the YATC Class of 2019.
 
Automotive legend and JM Family Enterprises founder Jim Moran established YATC in 1984 to prepare these students to become self-sufficient, productive citizens. Upon successful completion of the program, which trains and educates at-risk young men and women in basic automotive repair skills, academic remediation, job readiness and life management skills, the Class of 2019 will join more than 700 alumni who received a second chance at success.
 
Members of the Class of 2019, 29 men and one woman, are referred to YATC in a variety of ways, including through the departments of Juvenile Justice and Children and Families, as well as by YATC graduates, local clergy and word of mouth. Many of these young people have experienced poverty, crime, abuse and addiction even before reaching their teen years.
 
“Jim Moran believed in second chances and he believed in YATC,” said Larry McGinnes, president of the Board of Directors. “He created the Youth Automotive Training Center to provide students with the tools they need to succeed. We are honored to continue Mr. Moran’s dream of helping students – regardless of their race, social status or background – achieve a brighter future and plan on doing so for a very long time.”
 
There is no cost to the students who attend YATC, as the program is funded solely by generous donations from community leaders and YATC business partners.

YATC receives financial support from the Jim Moran Classic Golf Tournament, which will play its final round on Nov. 9-10, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando. Although this annual tradition will come to an end, the program it helped to fund for more than 30 years plans to continue fulfilling Jim Moran’s vision for many years to come.
 
For more information about the Youth Automotive Training Center, please visit www.yatc.org or call (954) 428-0909. YATC is located at 399 SW Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Deerfield Beach.