Hillsboro Youth Advisory Council presents year-end projects on climate, equity, transportation, mental health and homelessness

The Hillsboro Youth Advisory Council (YAC) presented its year-end subcommittee work to the City Council on June 3, summarizing projects that ranged from sustainability guidance to youth homelessness outreach.

YAC advisors Mikaela Conetti and Madeline Burke opened the presentation describing the program’s mission to “educate, engage, and empower” Hillsboro high school students through leadership opportunities and civic experiences. Fifth-grader Sanvi Shah, who represents Hillsboro in the Oregon Kid Governor’s Cabinet, opened the student presentations and described a three-point platform to reduce homelessness and organize community supply drives.

The presentations covered multiple subcommittees and activities. The climate resiliency and sustainability group said it has drafted sustainability guidelines that incorporate the city swag policy and equity-toolkit feedback and held an invasive-ivy volunteer event at Noble Woods Park on April 26. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion subcommittee described a May 29 college-and-career event at Liberty High School designed as small-group conversations; presenters said about 14 colleges and organizations attended and roughly 25 students participated in that pilot.

The transportation subcommittee delivered results from six bike rodeos held at Hillsboro School District Title I elementary schools. Presenters reported distributing more than 256 bikes and at least 350 helmets, providing on-site repairs and issuing vouchers for workshop repairs, and running bilingual outreach and promotional materials in English and Spanish. The speakers said WashCo Bikes supplied bikes, helmets and repair support and that 29 youth volunteers helped run the events.

The youth welfare subcommittee summarized a monthlong mental-health awareness campaign that included a “wear green” initiative and distributed buttons and bracelets. The group also described a volunteer meal night (May 29) at which they said they served about 40–50 people and distributed information intended to reduce stigma and to highlight youth-centered mental-health resources in city facilities.

The youth homelessness subcommittee said it ran a hygiene-supplies drive from April 14–May 4 and hosted a meal night on May 1 at Hillsboro First Baptist Church where presenters said they served more than 60 people and distributed donated supplies to the nonprofit Home Plate. Presenters reported collecting “102 hygiene products” overall and separately reported that toothbrushes were the largest single category, which they listed as 504 toothbrushes; presenters did not reconcile those two figures during the meeting.

The youth engagement subcommittee recapped “Youth Takeover,” an all-day job-shadow event at the Civic Center that drew 33 registration responses and offered small breakout sessions across departments. Council members and staff who participated were thanked; students said the event combined volunteer service with career and city-government exposure.

Councilors asked a few clarifying questions and praised the students’ work. City staff and student presenters noted next steps for several items: the sustainability guidelines are under review by the city management team and could be expanded to farmers’ markets and downtown events; the DEI subcommittee hopes to scale the college-career pilot district-wide in September 2025; transportation organizers said bike-rodeo partnerships and voucher programs will continue; and the youth welfare group requested that city facilities improve visibility of youth-centered mental-health resources (flyers, QR codes and youth-specific contact points).

Councilors also recognized YAC seniors and staff for the program’s 20th anniversary.

The presentations were informational; no formal council action or ordinance resulted from the YAC reports. The council thanked the students and staff and asked that the city follow up on implementation details and the items the students flagged for additional support.