Frequently Asked Questions

General FAQs

We can help you through this process. Adding spaces can happen at any time as long as we have availability. There are some deadlines for decreasing spaces. Please check out the Registration Process for more specifics.

YouthWorks trips are affordable. Many trips start at $429 per person. Cost varies by location and can be found on each trip’s page. For a complete list of trips, see the Trip Finder and browse via list or map view. Cost per participant includes:

  • 14 Meals
  • Project Materials and Resources
  • Program Resources
  • Evening Activities
  • Lodging
  • Staffing – Recruitment & Training

If cost of the trip is an obstacle for your group or for a specific student in your group please call us to find out more about scholarship opportunities.

  • Our summer youth trips run Sunday evening through Friday morning.
  • We do offer fall, winter and spring trips that are customizable. Check out this page for more information.

We encourage you to extend your trip on the front or back end to accommodate for any sightseeing or recreational activities that you would like to do with your group.

Registrations for a YouthWorks mission trip must be made through a church or organization. Because of YouthWorks’ program and policies, agreements with ministry partners, and to be respectful of other groups, we do not allow individuals who are not in the appropriate grades to attend the mission trip. The minimum group size is five.

  • Each YouthWorks trip is categorized as middle school (junior high), mixed (middle school/high school), high school, or high school and up trip.
  • 2025 Middle School trips are open to students who complete 6th grade in spring 2025 through students who complete 8th grade in spring 2025.
  • 2025 High School trips are open to students who complete 8th grade in spring 2025 through seniors who graduate in spring 2025.
  • 2025 Mixed trips are open to students who complete 6th grade in spring 2025 through seniors who graduate in spring 2025.

Yes! In fact, Adult Leaders play a key leadership role on your youth trips. Leaders need to be at least 20 years of age and willing to take a role of leadership with your teenagers.

  • High School Trips: 1 Adult Leader for every 7 students
  • Middle School Trips: 1 Adult Leader for every 5 students
  • Mixed Trips: 1 Adult Leader for every 5 students

Yes. Each church group will need to conduct a national (multi-site) criminal background check and sex offender registry check on any participant (adult or student) that is 18 years and older. Church groups then need to provide YouthWorks with written confirmation that every participant 18 and older has been approved to work with youth and children, and provide written confirmation that all participants (youth and adults) are deemed safe.

For more on this check out the Background Check FAQs on your paperwork page of the dashboard.

Safety is of the utmost importance to our organization. We want participants to feel safe throughout the entire week, and we want parents and church leadership to know that we take every precaution in order to ensure their safety. Our staff are thoroughly trained on a variety of safety practices and procedures. With that said, we do rely on Adult Leaders and youth to help the YouthWorks staff in upholding and following the safety policies and procedures for their mission week.

Each YouthWorks site is unique. You may be involved in clothing distribution, painting, yard work, food pantries, relational ministry or more. Please reach out to a Trip Specialist to ask about the specific location you plan to attend.

It depends on the YouthWorks site. We seek to meet the needs of our community partners and their ministries. Some of our organizations prefer the same volunteers to come back each day, all week so there is consistency in both relational and logistical aspects. In other situations you might serve with multiple partners during the week.

A typical YouthWorks site has capacity for 65 to 80 participants depending on the site and week. Our goal is that as many teenagers as possible would experience mission trips, so there may be multiple groups on site during your week. The only way to be 100% certain that your group is the only group on site is to register for the whole week (all of the spaces on site). Otherwise, you can expect other groups on site with yours.

If your group is larger than seven people and has more than two Adult Leaders, you will most likely be split into different ministry/work crews for the week. Each crew will have anywhere from 7 – 10 people with 1 – 3 Adult Leaders depending on the needs of our Service Partners, the size of the group on site, and the number and size of vehicles available.

Each group is responsible for transportation (vehicles, gas and mileage) to and from the YouthWorks site and throughout the trip.

Bus accessible communities are designated as locations that can accommodate groups traveling in buses. Buses are defined as any vehicle that is larger than a standard 15-passenger van. We do not allow buses at all of our sites because of safety, the needs of the community and the availability of parking. Even if a site is designated as bus accessible, we still require that you provide additional transportation for participants during the week. You can find more information about bus accessibility and travel on this page.

Groups are housed in a local church, school or community building. Participants need to bring their own sleeping bags, pillows and sleeping pads or air mattresses that are twin-size or smaller (Puerto Rico has a slightly different requirement). All females and males sleep in separate rooms, including married Adult Leaders. Showers are available either on site or at a nearby location. Off-site showers may be at local community center, YMCA or public high school which may include open shower rooms or private stalls. Specific details will be available in the spring as they are confirmed in each community.

YouthWorks welcomes youth and adult participants with disabilities and works collaboratively with Trip Leaders to provide accommodations to need and circumstance. Due to the diverse nature of each of our mission sites and ongoing changes at service locations, creating a coordinated plan with a Trip Leader is important to help us discern if and how the special need can be accommodated. There are some mission locations that are more equipped to handle special requests than others and some communities that cannot fully accommodate all needs. For more information, please talk with a Trip Consultant.

Service Partners

It is our privilege to partner with organizations already at work serving the needs of people within the community. We want to help these organizations do what they do by providing them with volunteers. Our partnerships include working with the elderly, children, individuals with special needs, people who are experiencing homelessness or in transition, or serving through hands-on labor with food banks, community gardens or neighborhood revitalization projects. While we place a priority on relational service opportunities, we are also pleased to serve behind the scenes through manual labor; many YouthWorks participants will experience a little of both.

In some communities, groups may have the opportunity to partner with churches or other organizations that work with children in the community such as a VBS or a Boys and Girls Club. Because each community is unique, each kids program will look a little different. If you are serving at a kids program, your day will most likely include games, crafts and a storytelling component. You will learn more about the specifics of your service day after arriving in the community. 

We love to partner with organizations that have a faith-based focus, but we also value what other nonprofit organizations are doing in communities. Our hope is to provide volunteer support to local organizations (Service Partners) that share our desire to love and serve the people in their community. We are blessed when we can be part of the story of what God is doing in a community whether the work is being done through a secular or faith-based organization. YouthWorks does not endorse its partners beyond providing volunteer support, so participants will not be asked to solicit gifts or donations for any of our local partners.

We certainly want to be able to share God’s truth and love with the people in communities; however, some communities have seen a great deal of aggressive Christian evangelism, and many of our ministry partners rely on government funding that limits traditional evangelism. It is because of this that while we encourage participants to be open about their reasons for serving, as well as in sharing their faith, we believe that this sharing is most meaningful when it is done primarily through our actions and within the context of relationships. We serve as the hands and feet of Christ and in turn he uses us to impact others for the Kingdom.

Full-time YouthWorks staff, along with our summer staff, will be responsible for choosing appropriate service opportunities for your week of ministry. The Trip Leader of each group will be asked to place each person from their group on a work crew, with the input and help of site staff leaders.

You will not know specifically where you will be serving until Sunday night of your trip.

Yes, you are responsible for your transportation to the service location each day. You may be at one place all day or serve at one place in the morning and at a different place in the afternoon. You will be given addresses to each location, back to the housing site, and to emergency facilities. 

Work Projects

Work Projects are a tangible way for you and your youth to serve a community through painting, yard work and other simple projects. Our goal for Work Projects is to create a meaningful work experience where youth can make a difference with their skills and abilities while also building relationships with families and neighbors.

We seek to meet needs in the community through various types of Work Projects. Ultimately we want to do projects that are at, not above, your teenagers’ skill level. This allows youth to take ownership of a project. Projects may include painting, yard work, community beautification, building cleanup or any other project that will serve individuals or groups in a community.

When we do paint homes, a painting project typically consists of scraping old paint, filling holes with insulation, caulking windows and applying a fresh coat of paint to a home. You may be involved in any or all of the painting process and may or may not complete an entire house during your time. Painting is a relatively easy task and is something in which youth can be successful. Done well, it can create a real sense of pride both by the painting crew and the homeowner. Occasionally, we encounter lead-based paint at a project; however, our staff are trained to take extra safety precautions during lead-paint scraping in order to follow health and legal standards.

We find and establish partnerships with homeowners through trusted local leaders and reputable organizations in each community. These connections are often made by networking in the community and partnering with local churches, service organizations and community members to find people we can work alongside of in home repair and landscaping projects.

All the supplies are included in the price of your trip.

Sometimes there is a site-specific need for supplies and materials, including but not limited to gloves, paintbrushes, tarps, paint scrapers or other project-specific materials.  Two weeks before your trip, the Site Director will contact your Trip Leader to talk through specific trip details and help you finalize your plans. This would be a great time to ask about any supply needs that the site may have.

The Adult Leaders have three main roles on a Work Projects site. The first is to watch for safety. Safety is our number one priority on all aspects of your mission trip, and the work site is no different. Additionally, Adult Leaders oversee all aspects of the work project. Our hope is that the youth will take leadership of the work and of the site, but as the adult you are ultimately in charge. Lastly, the role of Adult Leaders is to work alongside the youth. By participating with students, you will have an incredible opportunity to serve the community in a very tangible way, as well as  build some great relationships with the youth you are working with.

Although adults at Work Project sites are ultimately responsible, our desire is that youth feel empowered to take leadership in every aspect – from beginning to end. Look for ways to empower your youth at Work Projects sites and throughout the week.

At Work Projects sites, relationships can develop among students working side-by-side. Since your work crew will most likely be made up of people from at least two different churches, you have the great opportunity to get to know people from a different church and perhaps even a different part of the country than you.

Additionally, our desire is that you also get to know the people you are serving. Although health issues or work schedules sometimes prevent community partners from interacting with groups, we seek Work Projects partners who can be present with the work crew when possible. As visitors in the community, you and your youth have the opportunity to seek these relationships – but do so humbly, understanding that cultural, economic and other barriers are factors to be considered.

YouthWorks hires and trains a Work Projects Coordinator who will be supervising your worksites. However, because there will likely be multiple work projects running at once, the staff will not be on your site with you the entire time. They will check in with you at various points throughout the week. You will also receive an orientation and training before arriving at your Work Projects site.

In some communities, we partner with existing home repair or hands-on service organizations who may plan and/or lead these projects for your group instead of a specific Work Projects Coordinator. In this scenario, you would still have a YouthWorks staff member who is your point person during the service day.

Primarily, we seek to do projects that are at, not above, teenagers’ skill level, so students are able to step into leadership of those projects. Occasionally, however, there is need for skilled labor in the community. Two weeks before your trip, the Site Director will contact the Trip Leader to finalize any details. This would be a great time to let them know if you have adults with specialized skills who are coming with you. We cannot guarantee we will have projects that require those special skills, but it is helpful to know what skills are available as we are considering how to best serve the community.