Natrona County teens who spent a week last year putting $150,000 into the hands of local youth spaces returned July 15 to check on that work, and to make another big call of their own: awarding a $100,000 implementation grant to Casper Youth Hub.
The Natrona Collective Health Trust does not make these decisions. The teens do. Youth Takeover Week is part of the Trust’s participatory grantmaking work, an approach that puts funding decisions entirely in the hands of the young people closest to the issue.
In 2025, a panel of Natrona County teens ages 13 to 19 spent a week reviewing applications and awarded $150,000 to four existing youth spaces: the Natrona County Library, Mercer Family Resource Center, David Street Station and Casper Youth Hub. The panel also awarded a $50,000 planning grant to the Casper Recreation Foundation to explore a new youth space at the Casper Recreation Center, an idea that later took shape as The Point.
How this year’s check-in worked
This year’s group gathered at the Natrona County Health Department on July 15 for a day of follow-up with the grant recipients. The same confidence and critical thinking that carried them through last year’s grantmaking process showed up again. Teens heard updates from all four original grantees, then heard a presentation from the Casper Recreation Foundation on The Point, asking detailed, pointed questions of every presenter. Using the Trust’s Youth Review Rubric, they weighed each project on planning, youth involvement and readiness, then spent the day debating where a $100,000 implementation grant could do the most good.
What’s already happened with $150,000
The presentations spoke to all the good that’s already been done with that original $150,000.
Natrona County Library
More than 130 teens weighed in on changes to the library’s Teen Zone through surveys, an open house and outreach at local schools. A Teen Advisory Board of 10 teens has since met twice to finalize decisions on furniture, paint colors, lighting and a mural, and the library plans to add a new, younger staff member to help lead outreach to teens once construction begins later this year.
Mercer Family Resource Center
The organization’s Youth Engagement Council has guided plans for a renovated space designed to feel like a living room rather than an institutional space, down to a mural created by youth. Mercer is covering construction costs itself, with grant funds going toward food and programming, and the group hopes to open the space by the start of the school year.
David Street Station
The grant funded a 20% increase in seasonal staff and extended hours, giving more young people paid roles supporting events like Youth Fest. One youth staff member called the experience an irreplaceable leadership opportunity that opened doors to future connections. Youth staff are currently helping plan a September festival to keep live music and youth self-expression going through the fall.
Casper Youth Hub
A youth participatory action research group led the entire planning process at Casper Youth Hub, which opened its doors earlier this month, from choosing a location to picking paint colors, and grant funds directly paid youth for that research work. The hub now includes a lounge, game room, art studio, maker space, kitchen and production studio, all built with youth guidance. It drew 30 young people through its doors in its first two days alone, with 70 more already signed up.
The Recreation Foundation’s work on The Point
The Casper Recreation Foundation, alongside the City of Casper Recreation Division, used its $50,000 planning grant to build a Youth Accessibility Council of local teens, tour potential spaces and work with Arete Design Group and Sampson Construction on a full concept for The Point, a proposed youth space inside the Casper Recreation Center with four distinct zones for hangout, creative and gaming use. The Recreation Foundation also plans to add a new staff position this fall dedicated to youth programming.
Why Casper Youth Hub got the grant
After hearing from all five presenters, the teen panel voted to award the $100,000 implementation grant to Casper Youth Hub, citing the strength of its youth-led planning process and its readiness to put the funding to use for the young people already coming through its doors. The grant comes with milestones Casper Youth Hub and the Trust will track together over the next year. The Trust will work alongside Casper Youth Hub over the coming year to make sure the requirements of the implementation grant are met, and will look for other opportunities for additional support.
“These teens didn’t just hand out money last year and move on. They came back, sat through hours of presentations, asked hard questions of every organization in the room, and made a decision based on where they believed young people in this community would benefit most right now,” said Samantha Smith, VP of Programs at the Trust. “That is what it looks like to actually trust young people with real decisions.”
“The Trust didn’t choose who received this grant. The teens did,” said Beth Worthen, CEO of the Trust. “That is the entire point of Youth Takeover Week: putting real money and real trust in the hands of the young people who understand what their peers need most.”
The Trust remains committed to supporting the Casper Recreation Foundation’s continued work on The Point and looks forward to future opportunities to partner as that project moves forward.
What’s next
The group closed the day with a commitment to keep following the progress of every funded project through the rest of the year.
