Area 2 of 8 · Commitments 2.1–2.6
Our Young People
A building is not the same as a resource.
The problem
Ashburn has a youth resource center. Having a building is not the same as having something running inside it. Meanwhile child poverty in Turner County is moving the wrong direction: 846 children under 18 in 2024, up from 735 in 2020. These are the years a young person decides whether there is anything here for them.
What the city actually controls
Not the school system. But the city controls the hours around school — after 3:30, summer, weekends — plus the youth center, park programming, and park lighting. That is a whole lot of a childhood.
I want a kid from here to stand up in a room full of strangers, say what they want to be, say where they're from, and be proud of both.
The commitments
2.1 – 2.6
All of them say what gets done, how, and when, with a label saying who has to agree and, where it applies, something countable you can hold me to.
2.1
Audit the Youth Resource Center
Walk it. Count it. What it costs, what hours it keeps, how many young people come through in a month, what's broken, what sits unused. Publish the findings.
- What it unlocks
- The operating plan below. No plan is worth anything until somebody has counted what's already there.
- Hold me to this
- Audit published by day 60.
First 90 daysI can do this alone2.2
An Operating Plan, and the Doors Open
Set hours, a staffing model, and a programming calendar built on three things: academic support, job and trade skills, and somewhere safe to be on a Friday night. Pay for it with what the city already spends on the building, the partners at one table, and youth grants from the grant list.
- Hold me to this
- Plan to council in the first year. A set weekly schedule running by the end of year two.
Years 2–4Needs a council vote2.3
Build it on Partners, not One Organization
One table, one calendar, divided up. UGA Extension and 4-H already run youth programming here on their own funding. The school system for tutoring, facilities, and the hours the city controls. The churches, who already feed and watch children every week. Local businesses for job shadowing. The city provides the building, the hours, and the coordination.
- Hold me to this
- All partners at one table within the first year.
First yearNeeds a partner2.4
Young People at the Table
A student advisory seat reporting to council on the youth center and park programming. If we're building it for them, they get to say whether it's any good.
- Hold me to this
- Seat proposed to council by the end of year two.
Years 2–4Needs a council vote2.5
A Paid Summer Work Program
Not a jobs promise — a real, small, funded summer crew. Parks work, cleanup, the garden, event setup. Paid for with a line in the city budget, local business sponsors, and workforce grants for young people where we qualify. Young people earning money in their own town instead of leaving it to find a first job.
- Hold me to this
- A funded pilot crew in place by the third summer.
Years 2–4Needs a council vote2.6
Childcare Parents Can Count On
A lot of parents here can't take a job, or keep one, because there's nobody to watch the kids. The city doesn't run daycare, but it can find out what's here: every provider, what it costs, and how long the waiting lists are. Make sure families know about the state's help paying for childcare. And look at whether city zoning rules or an empty city building are standing between somebody and opening a daycare or growing one.
- What it unlocks
- A clear picture of the childcare gap, and the zoning or building changes that would help close it.
- Hold me to this
- What exists, the waiting lists, and what the city can change, published by the end of year two.
Years 2–4I can do this alone
65 commitments across 8 areas.