GUADALUPE CENTER EXPANSION Senior citizens and youth on the West Side will benefit from the expansion of Guadalupe Community Center's services. The Youth Impact Program will provide funds for a Youth Council, and for a staff of West Side residents to carry out the program. In addition, a continuing training program in leadership skills will be offered for area youth. Additional services-including counseling, home visits, recreation, referrals, transportation, and interpreting-will be offered for the elderly. Neighborhood residents will sit on policy boards to administer these new services of the center. COMMUNITY ACADEMIES FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS This project will operate performing arts classes throughout the MN area and will involve about 60 MN youth in performing arts and related classes at the Karnes Theatre. The project will attempt to develop resident interest and participation in the performing arts. The academies will be operated by Karnes Community Children's Theater. NEIGHBORHOOD LIBRARY The consent of the library will not be limited to the traditional materials, but rather will provide a wide range of reading matter, programs, and activities requested by the MN residents. There will be a special collection of minority group history and culture, and film programs for youngsters, special story hours will be provided. The library will also provide meeting rooms for community groups. After construction is completed on the larger library, the interim library will continue its programs and services. BOSS PLAYERS TEEN CENTER The Boss Players Teen Center will provide a continuous recreational and educational program, primarily for inner-city youth. A study hall and Black Resource Center will be established. Black lecturers will give courses in Afro-American and Black history. Counseling and guidance for youths wil special problems will be offered, and tutors will be available for those who need help with school work. The OA is the Methodist Inner-City Parish, Inc. SATELLITE GOLDEN AGE CENTER Elderly MN residents, most of whom are retired and isolated, must be encouraged and helped to live a full and meaningful life. Owing to physical limitations, economic status, and environmental conditions, the elderly need specialized services, both preventive and supportive, to become independent and remain so as long as possible. Older residents will participate in planning activities through the Residents Advisory Committee, and they will carry the Center's projects to the homebound. The Center will be operated by the City Parks and Recreation Department. PARKS IMPROVEMENT The scope of this program, to be carried out by the City Parks and Recreation Department, includes modernizing existing facilities in MN parks. Emphasis during the First Action Year will be placed on installing better lights for three baseball diamonds, toilets, shelter-storage areas, plantings, park apparatus, and night lighting. Studies will be made to determine how 70 SCHOOL many new parks and pools are needed, and where they should be located. Citizens will be involved in these planning studies. YOUTH COALITION The Youth Action Coalition will be organized to identify problems and develop solutions for Model Neighborhood youth. The Youth Coalition will be a non-profit corporation composed of young and adult Model Neighborhood representatives and officials of youth-oriented service agencies. A youth representative from each Neighborhood Planning Group will be a member of the Board. (1970 Board members are listed on Page 77 .) The program will be developed by MN youths from 15 to 25 years old. Emphasis at all points will be on self-help and awareness. The Mayor's Council on Youth Opportunity will be closely co-ordinated with the Youth Coalition, as will the Model Cities Teen Center program (see above). MULTIPURPOSE NEIGHBORHOOD FACILITY The Multi-purpose Neighborhood Facility will assist Model Neighborhood residents by making services of public and private agencies more accessible. Services offered must be new services for the Model Neighborhood or extensions of existing programs. Agencies housed in the facility must maintain existing levels of services in other parts of the city. Probable activities include the Basic Adult Education program, recreation, day care, legal services, employment services, family counseling, and Missouri Division of Welfare services. The years between a child's birth and his first day in school are a preparation for formal education. But if a child is surrounded by social, physical, and cultural deprivations, he does not have the opportunity to develop his skills and grow. And children who are not given sufficient opportunity to learn cannot compete for opportunities. Tests given to Kansas City MN children bear this out. At 16 of the 29 schools in the areas, kindergarten children got lower scores on the tests that 80 to 90 per cent of the rest of the children throughout the country. By sixth grade, entire classes of our children are two years behind their proper grade level in reading and elementary mathematics. Another measure of MN educational deficiencies is the number of dropouts. From 1965's 778 ninth grade pupils in the three MN |