What Is a YAAB and Why Does It Exist?

Before you can find your local YAAB, it helps to understand what a YAAB actually is and why it was created. The Youth Action Board (YAAB) of Tennessee exists because young adults experiencing homelessness deserve more than a bed and a referral — they deserve a seat at the table where real decisions get made about housing, services, and policy.

YAAB chapters operate inside Tennessee’s regional Continuum of Care structure, giving transition-age youth (TAY) — that’s anyone ages 17 to 25 — a formal, recognized voice in the systems that directly affect their lives. Whether you’re in Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville, or rural Tennessee, there is a regional YAAB that belongs to you.

Youth Shaping the System — From the Inside

Most systems that serve young people experiencing homelessness were designed by adults who have never lived through it. The Youth Action Board flips that script. YAAB is a statewide network of young adults — ages 17 to 25 — with lived experience of homelessness or housing instability who sit at the table where decisions get made.

That means YAAB members aren’t just receiving services. They’re advising Continuum of Care leaders, reviewing program data, shaping local policy, and telling decision-makers what actually works and what doesn’t. It’s peer-driven advocacy, and it’s powerful.

The Continuum of Care Connection

Tennessee’s homeless response system is organized through Continuums of Care (CoC) — federally recognized planning bodies that coordinate housing and support services across a region. Each CoC in Tennessee is required to include youth voice, and that’s exactly what local YAABs provide.

When you join your regional YAAB, you become a formal part of that Continuum of Care structure. Your input can influence how millions of dollars in federal funding get allocated, which programs get prioritized, and how service providers treat young people. That’s not symbolic — it’s structural power.

Tennessee's 8 CoC Regions — Which One Are You In?

Tennessee’s housing response system isn’t one-size-fits-all — it’s organized into eight distinct Continuum of Care (CoC) regions, each covering specific counties and communities. This regional structure means that the YAAB chapter closest to you is built around the specific challenges and resources of your area. Memphis faces different housing pressures than Chattanooga, and rural West Tennessee has different needs than Nashville. Your regional YAAB reflects that reality.

How Tennessee Divides Its Housing Response System

Tennessee is divided into eight Continuum of Care regions, each identified by a federal CoC number. Every region has its own lead agency, its own pool of HUD funding, and — critically — its own YAAB chapter. Knowing your CoC region is the first step to finding your local board.

• TN-500 — Memphis / Shelby County
• TN-501 — Nashville / Davidson County
• TN-502 — Knoxville / Knox County
• TN-503 — Memphis Balance of State (surrounding counties)
• TN-504 — Chattanooga / Hamilton County
• TN-506 — Upper Cumberland region
• TN-507 — Northeast Tennessee
• TN-509 — Jackson / West Tennessee

Finding Your County's Region

Your CoC region is determined by the county you’re currently in — not where you grew up or where you’re originally from. If you’re sleeping in Shelby County tonight, you’re in TN-500. If you’re couch-surfing in Hamilton County, you’re in TN-504. You don’t have to have a permanent address to participate.

If you’re unsure which county you’re in, a quick search of your city name plus ‘Tennessee county’ will tell you. From there, match your county to the list above and you’ll know exactly which YAAB chapter is yours.

Locating the Chattanooga YAAB (TN-504 / Hamilton County)

If you’re in Chattanooga or anywhere in Hamilton County, your regional YAAB is TN-504. Chattanooga has one of Tennessee’s most active local boards, with members who have shaped shelter intake processes, contributed to the annual homeless count, and advocated directly with city officials. Getting connected here means joining a community of peers who know the Chattanooga system from the inside out.

Who the Chattanooga YAAB Serves

The Chattanooga YAAB operates within the TN-504 Continuum of Care, which primarily covers Hamilton County and the greater Chattanooga metro area. If you’re a young adult ages 17 to 25 who is experiencing or has experienced homelessness or housing instability in the Chattanooga region, this is your chapter.

The TN-504 YAAB works alongside local service providers, the CoC lead agency, and city and county officials to make sure youth voice is part of every major housing and services decision in the region. Members have contributed to point-in-time count planning, program reviews, and local advocacy campaigns.

How to Connect with TN-504

The fastest way to connect with the Chattanooga YAAB is to visit the dedicated TN-504 page on the YAAB Tennessee website. There you’ll find current contact information, meeting schedules, and details about how to get involved. You can also reach out through a local service provider or shelter — many case managers in Hamilton County are already connected to the YAAB network and can make a warm introduction.

No experience required. You don’t need to have attended a meeting before, have a stable address, or know anything about policy. Your lived experience is the only qualification that matters. The TN-504 YAAB wants to hear from you exactly as you are right now.

Locating the Memphis YAAB (TN-500 / Shelby County)

Memphis is home to one of Tennessee’s most vital YAAB chapters. The TN-500 YAAB serves young adults across Shelby County — a region where youth homelessness intersects with some of the state’s deepest concentrations of poverty, limited affordable housing, and high rates of youth aging out of foster care. The Memphis YAAB gives transition-age youth in this region a direct line to the people making decisions about housing funding and services.

Who the Memphis YAAB Serves

The Memphis YAAB operates within TN-500, the Continuum of Care covering Shelby County and the city of Memphis. Memphis is Tennessee’s largest city and has one of the state’s most complex homeless response systems — which makes youth voice here especially critical.

Young adults in Memphis who have experienced homelessness, couch-surfing, doubled-up living, or time in foster care are exactly who the TN-500 YAAB was built for. Members work alongside major Memphis service providers and CoC leadership to make sure transition-age youth aren’t overlooked in a system that can sometimes prioritize older adults.

How to Connect with TN-500

To connect with the Memphis YAAB, visit the TN-500 chapter page on the YAAB Tennessee website. You’ll find meeting information, contact details, and resources specific to Shelby County. If you’re already working with a case manager, shelter, or drop-in center in Memphis, ask them about the YAAB — many Memphis-area providers are active CoC partners and can connect you directly.

It’s also worth knowing that TN-503 covers the Balance of State surrounding Memphis — so if you’re in a county adjacent to Shelby but outside the city, you may fall under TN-503 instead. Both chapters are part of the same statewide YAAB network and share resources and advocacy goals.

The Other 6 Regional YAABs Across Tennessee

Beyond Chattanooga and Memphis, Tennessee has six more regional YAAB chapters — each embedded in its own Continuum of Care and serving the specific needs of young adults in that part of the state. Whether you’re in Nashville, Knoxville, the Upper Cumberland, Northeast Tennessee, or rural West Tennessee, there is a chapter that represents your community. Here’s a quick overview of what each region covers.

Nashville, Knoxville, and the Upper Cumberland

TN-501 (Nashville / Davidson County) is the state’s largest CoC and one of the most resource-rich regions. The Nashville YAAB is embedded in a system that includes dozens of service providers, rapid rehousing programs, and transitional housing options. If you’re in Davidson County, this is your chapter.

TN-502 (Knoxville / Knox County) covers East Tennessee’s largest city. The Knoxville YAAB works within a CoC that has made significant investments in youth-specific housing programs in recent years. TN-506 (Upper Cumberland) serves a largely rural region in Middle Tennessee — an area where transportation barriers and limited shelter options make peer advocacy especially important.

Northeast Tennessee and West Tennessee

TN-507 (Northeast Tennessee) covers the Tri-Cities area and surrounding counties — a region with a strong sense of community and a YAAB chapter that has been growing its membership and advocacy work. TN-509 (Jackson / West Tennessee) serves the Jackson metro and surrounding West Tennessee counties, a region where the YAAB is working to expand access to youth-specific services and increase young adult representation in CoC planning.

No matter which of these regions you’re in, the process for connecting is the same: visit the YAAB Tennessee website, find your chapter, and reach out. Every chapter is part of the same statewide network and shares the same mission — youth voice in every room where decisions get made.

What Happens When You Join a Local YAAB?

Knowing where your YAAB is located is just the first step. The bigger question is: what does membership actually look like day to day? The answer varies by chapter, but every regional YAAB shares a core set of experiences that make participation genuinely valuable — not just for the community, but for you personally.

Your First Steps as a New Member

Joining a YAAB doesn’t require a formal application process or a background check. Most chapters welcome new members by simply showing up — to a meeting, a community event, or an outreach session. From there, you’ll get oriented to how your local CoC works, who the key players are, and what the YAAB is currently working on.

New members are paired with peers who can help them get comfortable. You’ll never be thrown into a policy meeting without support. The culture of every YAAB chapter is peer-to-peer — people who’ve been through similar experiences helping each other navigate the system and find their voice.

Leadership, Stipends, and Real Opportunities

YAAB membership isn’t just volunteering — it’s a real leadership development opportunity. Many chapters offer stipends or honoraria for members who participate in CoC meetings, advocacy events, and planning sessions. This recognizes that your time and expertise have value.

Beyond stipends, YAAB members gain skills that translate directly into employment and education: public speaking, data analysis, community organizing, policy writing, and professional networking. Members have gone on to jobs in social services, housing advocacy, government, and nonprofit leadership. Some have used their YAAB experience to support college applications and scholarship essays. The experience is real, and it opens real doors.

Community, Peer Support, and Belonging

For many members, the most important thing YAAB provides isn’t a stipend or a resume line — it’s community. Being surrounded by peers who understand what housing instability feels like, who don’t judge your past, and who are actively working to make things better is something that’s hard to find anywhere else.

YAAB chapters create a culture of mutual support. Members check in on each other, share resources, celebrate wins together, and hold space for hard days. If you’ve felt isolated or like no one in your community gets what you’ve been through, your local YAAB might be exactly the place you’ve been looking for.

Who Is Eligible to Join a Tennessee YAAB?

One of the most common questions young adults have about YAAB is simply: am I eligible? The answer, for most transition-age youth in Tennessee, is yes. YAAB is intentionally designed to be accessible — not another system with a long list of requirements that keeps people out. Here’s what you actually need to know about eligibility.

The Age and Experience Requirements

YAAB membership is open to young adults ages 17 to 25 who have lived experience of homelessness or housing instability. That experience can take many forms — it doesn’t have to mean sleeping outside. Couch-surfing, staying in a shelter, living in a car, doubling up with family or friends because you had nowhere else to go, aging out of foster care without stable housing — all of these count.

You don’t need to currently be experiencing homelessness to join. Many YAAB members are in stable housing now but want to use their past experience to help others and shape better systems. Your story is yours, and it’s valid no matter where you are in your journey right now.

Youth Aging Out of Foster Care

Young people aging out of Tennessee’s foster care system are a priority population for YAAB. Research consistently shows that youth who age out of foster care — particularly at 18 or 21 when state support ends — face dramatically elevated rates of homelessness. In Tennessee, an estimated 40% of youth who age out of foster care experience homelessness within two years of leaving the system.

If you’ve been in foster care and are now navigating housing instability, the YAAB was built with you in mind. Your experience of navigating systems — DCS, courts, placements, aging out — gives you unique insight that makes you an especially powerful advocate. You’ve already survived a lot. YAAB is a place to turn that survival into leadership.

Tennessee's 8 Regional YAAB Chapters at a Glance

Use this table to quickly identify your CoC region, the counties it covers, and the primary city served by each YAAB chapter.

How YAAB Members Shape Real Policy in Tennessee

YAAB isn’t just a support group or a social network — it’s a formal advocacy body with real influence over housing policy in Tennessee. Understanding how that influence works can help you see why joining your regional YAAB is about more than your own situation. It’s about changing the system for every young person who comes after you.

Influencing the Continuum of Care Planning Process

Every Continuum of Care in Tennessee is required by HUD — the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — to include meaningful youth participation in its planning and governance. YAAB members fulfill that requirement, but they go far beyond checking a box. Members attend CoC board meetings, serve on subcommittees, review funding applications, and provide formal feedback on program performance.

This means that when a shelter in Chattanooga applies for federal funding, YAAB members in TN-504 may review that application and weigh in on whether it actually meets youth needs. That’s real power — and it’s exercised by young adults who know from personal experience what works and what doesn’t.

State-Level Advocacy and Legislative Engagement

YAAB’s influence doesn’t stop at the regional level. The statewide YAAB network engages with Tennessee state government, connecting youth voice to legislative conversations about housing funding, foster care policy, Medicaid, and education access. Members have testified before state committees, met with legislators, and contributed to statewide homeless plans.

For young adults who have never seen themselves as advocates or leaders, this can feel intimidating at first. But YAAB provides training, coaching, and peer support every step of the way. You don’t have to walk into a legislative hearing alone — you walk in with your chapter behind you.

Resources Available Through Your Regional YAAB

Your regional YAAB is more than an advocacy organization — it’s a gateway to resources. Whether you need help finding housing, figuring out your education options, landing a job, or just finding people who understand what you’re going through, your local chapter is connected to the network that can help. Here’s a breakdown of what’s available through the YAAB ecosystem.

Housing, Shelter, and Rapid Rehousing Connections

Your local YAAB chapter is deeply connected to the housing resource network in your region. Members and staff can help connect you to emergency shelter, transitional housing, rapid rehousing programs, and permanent supportive housing options in your CoC area. In Chattanooga, that includes resources coordinated through the TN-504 CoC. In Memphis, it includes the extensive network of providers in Shelby County’s TN-500 system.

YAAB isn’t a direct service provider — but it knows who is. And because YAAB members are peers who’ve navigated these systems themselves, the referrals you get come with real context: which programs actually work, what to expect, and how to advocate for yourself when you get there.

Education, Employment, and Financial Literacy Support

Housing stability is connected to everything else — education, employment, income, and financial skills. YAAB chapters work to connect members and their peers to GED pathways, vocational training, workforce development programs, and financial literacy resources available in their region.

Tennessee has several statewide programs that YAAB members can access, including Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect for education, and local workforce boards for employment support. YAAB can help you navigate these options and understand which ones fit your situation. You can also explore the full YAAB Tennessee resources page for a curated list of housing, education, and support services across the state.

Mental Health and Peer Support

Experiencing homelessness or housing instability takes a real toll on mental health. YAAB chapters recognize this and work to connect members to trauma-informed mental health support in their regions. This isn’t about labeling anyone — it’s about making sure you have access to care that actually understands what you’ve been through.

Peer support within the YAAB community itself is also a powerful resource. Talking to someone who has been through similar experiences — and come out the other side — can be more meaningful than any formal service. That peer-to-peer connection is built into the DNA of every YAAB chapter.

A Side-by-Side Look at Tennessee's 8 Regional YAAB Chapters

Every regional YAAB chapter is part of the same statewide network, but each one reflects the unique needs and character of its community. The table below gives you a quick overview of all eight chapters so you can identify yours at a glance and understand what makes each region distinct.

Ready to Find Your YAAB and Get Involved?

You now know what YAAB is, where your regional chapter is located, and what membership can mean for your life and your community. The only thing left is to take the first step. Whether you’re in Chattanooga, Memphis, Nashville, Knoxville, or anywhere else across Tennessee, your regional YAAB is ready for you. Here’s how to make your move.

Your Next Move — Three Simple Steps

Finding and joining your regional YAAB is simpler than you might think. Here’s how to do it right now:

• Step 1: Find your chapter. Visit the YAAB Tennessee local chapters page and identify the CoC region that covers your county. Each chapter has its own page with contact information and meeting details.
• Step 2: Reach out. Send a message, show up to a meeting, or ask a local service provider to connect you. You don’t need to have anything figured out before you make contact — just show up.
• Step 3: Show up as you are. You don’t need a polished story, a stable address, or any prior experience with advocacy. Your lived experience is enough. YAAB will meet you where you are.

For Case Managers and Service Providers

If you’re a case manager, CoC partner, or service provider reading this, you play a critical role in connecting young adults to their regional YAAB. Many transition-age youth don’t know YAAB exists — a warm introduction from a trusted provider can make all the difference.

You can learn more about how YAAB works, explore its advocacy work, and find resources to share with your clients at the YAAB Tennessee about page. Partnering with your local YAAB chapter is one of the most effective ways to ensure that youth voice is genuinely centered in your CoC’s work — not just as a compliance checkbox, but as a real force for better outcomes.

Tennessee Is Listening — Make Sure Youth Are Speaking

Across Tennessee — from Memphis on the Mississippi to Chattanooga in the shadow of Lookout Mountain — young adults are shaping the future of housing policy, one YAAB meeting at a time. The system isn’t perfect, and there’s a lot of work left to do. But the most powerful thing that can happen is for more young adults with lived experience to step into the room and say: I’m here, I know what this feels like, and I have something to say about it.

That’s what YAAB is for. That’s what you’re for. Find your chapter, show up, and let your voice be part of what changes Tennessee for the better.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I find my regional YAAB in Chattanooga?

If you're in Chattanooga or Hamilton County, your regional YAAB is TN-504. Visit yaabtn.org/local-yaabs/tn-504/ for current contact information, meeting schedules, and details on how to get involved. No prior experience or stable address is required.

How do I find my regional YAAB in Memphis?

Memphis and Shelby County are covered by the TN-500 YAAB chapter. Go to yaabtn.org/local-yaabs/tn-500/ to find contact details and meeting information. If you're in a county near Memphis but outside Shelby, you may fall under TN-503 — the Memphis Balance of State chapter.

Do I have to currently be homeless to join a YAAB?

No. YAAB membership is open to young adults ages 17 to 25 who have lived experience of homelessness or housing instability at any point — past or present. Many members are now in stable housing and use their experience to advocate for others.

What is a Continuum of Care and how does it relate to YAAB?

A Continuum of Care (CoC) is a federally recognized regional planning body that coordinates housing and homeless services. Tennessee has eight CoC regions. Each regional YAAB chapter is embedded in its local CoC, giving young adults with lived experience a formal voice in how housing funding and services are planned and delivered.

Can youth aging out of foster care join a YAAB?

Absolutely — youth aging out of foster care are a priority population for YAAB. Your experience navigating the foster care system gives you unique insight that makes you a powerful advocate. Any young adult ages 17 to 25 with foster care or housing instability experience is welcome.

Do YAAB members get paid for their time?

Many YAAB chapters offer stipends or honoraria for members who participate in CoC meetings, advocacy events, and planning sessions. Compensation varies by chapter and activity. Contact your regional YAAB directly to ask about current stipend opportunities in your area.