Coalition of groups to host youth-focused forum
A coalition of nonprofit groups operating under the umbrella of the Nashville Child & Youth Collaborative is calling on candidates in this year's mayoral election to focus on issues impacting the city's youth.
To highlight the issues it says are important to young people in the city, the Collaborative is hosting a forum at the Honey Alexander Center, 2400 Clifton Ave. on June 26th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
“Nashville is an exciting place to live, work and play. Our city is growing by leaps and bounds, but we know that our youngest citizens often feel less considered and anxious about opportunities to thrive in our city,” said Marsha Edwards, President and CEO, Martha O’Bryan Center and member of the collaborative. “The Collaborative is working hard to engage candidates, voters and other stakeholders in policy conversations and obtain specific commitments from Nashville’s next leader that will benefit our children.”
The Collaborative has outlined five goals for Nashville's next Mayor. They include:
Collaborating with service providers, families, children, and youth to define healthy child and youth development outcomes and publicly report on those outcomes by neighborhood.
Re-establishing the Office of Children and Youth to coordinate and report the success of efforts to center children and youth in city decision-making.
Identifying and publicly reporting on neighborhood needs and available services and deploying youth-informed city investments to close opportunity and access gaps.
Ensuring adequate operational investments in systems and structures that support child and youth development.
Creating an integrated system for Metro Government and community service providers to ensure children, youth and families can seamlessly access needed support.
“Nashville’s kids are smart, creative, diverse, and bold – and more importantly they want and deserve to be heard,” said Collaborative member Mark Dunkerley, President & CEO, Oasis Center. “The Collaborative is working to refocus community conversations about the needs of children and youth and how city institutions can support healthy child and youth development.”
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