Uplift: Empowering Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s Future is a project that is designed to help provide workforce prep and life skills to limited resource and at-risk youth in Hardin and Fayette Counties of Kentucky.  Ken Jones, Kerri Ashurst, Tyrone Atkinson and Allison Young are grant staff along with Kentucky State Extension Agents Carla Jordan and Chandra Deramus which make up the state staff. In year 1, the Agents have located and connected with community partners in both counties to formulate ideas and methods to support youth who are unstably housed and at risk. Community partners were engaged through introductory and follow up meetings (which included telephone, Zoom and face to face) and the trajectory has been set for future engagement of partners and curriculum. In the first year of Uplift the State team focused on collaborating well with partners to ensure youth could best be served in each county. Although the impacts of Covid-19 have affected planning and programming, the initial relationship building has protected from being unable to enter into year 2 with open mindedness and adaptive programming.