Brighter Horizons Youth Center receives $2,500 donation following presentation
ROGERSVILLE — The YMCA Brighter Horizons Youth Center received a $2,500 donation from the Appalachian Federal Credit Union after the director spoke at the Hawkins County Chamber of Commerce breakfast about what the YMCA and the center do for the community.
Director Sherry Mefford spoke to the members of the Chamber of Commerce at the monthly membership breakfast on Thursday.
Mefford first presented statistics about juvenile crime. According to Mefford, 64% of all juvenile crime happens between the hours of 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Mefford also said that 19.7% of all Hawkins County children suffer from food insecurity.
Mefford said the YMCA’s goal is to create programs that better the community and make life better for those around them.
The YMCA does this in three ways: an afterschool program, the Brighter Horizons Youth Center and its feeding program.
The YMCA currently operates eight afterschool programs in Hawkins County at local elementary schools. These programs offer homework help, STEM activities and physical activity. They also focuses on teaching social-emotional learning (SEL), a program in which children are taught how to control their emotions, self-regulation and how to interact with others.
Mefford said in the future, the YMCA would love to expand the program.
Mefford also talked about what they do at the Brighter Horizons Youth Center, which is for children in grades six through nine. They offer homework help, STEM and art classes.
The youth center also works to combat generational poverty.
“The goal is to help youth and their parents break out of generational poverty that so many have lived in for their entire lives and for generations within that same family,” Mefford said. “We do that through the youth and parent workshops, where we talk about things like resume building and interview skills, budgeting, money management’s fiscal responsibility. We also talked about mental health and physical health as well. Our belief is that education is the key to unlocking every door. So educating not only the students but their parents on how the parents can support your children is really what’s going to make the difference and help break those generational curses.”
They also have a full kitchen at the youth center that they use to prepare at least 230 meals daily.
Mefford encouraged people to support the youth center by visiting the location, talking about it, volunteering and donating.
After her presentation, the Appalachian Federal Credit Union presented Mefford with a $2,500 donation for the Brighter Horizons Youth Center.
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