Engaging Youth, SErving Community (EYSC4) Initiative

Youth in rural Kentucky communities are often faced with the challenge of not experiencing a chance to become civically engaged. This is often due to the lack of opportunities to work with adults who can serve as positive role models. This project will address the following question: "What does it take to strengthen youth-adult relationships within community settings, while engaging youth and adults as community partners?" The purpose of this project is to provide an understanding of attitudes and experiences of youth and adults engaged in youth-adult partnerships and how youth and adults perceive youth leadership in these communities. The goals of the project are for youth and adult members to: • Develop and apply the skills, experiences and confidence needed to emerge as effective community leaders by serving as equal decision-makers• • • Work cohesively to develop, implement and evaluate community action plans for rural Kentucky communities participating in the Engaging Youth Serving Community 4 Initiative Enhance personal skills necessary to participate as facilitators and to train other youth and adults on the concept of youth-adult partnering in order to develop a better understanding of youth in governance Increase the number of youth and adults working together on future community endeavors, which will ultimately contribute to an increase in human, social, cultural and civic/political capital