The City of Hampton, Virginia was a major asset-building hub even before it was formally involved with the Developmental Assets®. Hampton, a beautiful city located on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, was one of the first cities in the country to create a department focused on positive youth development in the local government. Since the early 1990s youth have had direct input into the city’s planning and decision-making process through this department. Youth and youth-serving agencies gained an influential role in the politics and environment of Hampton early on and have been sustained as the Hampton Coalition for Youth ever since.
Being embedded in the structure of the city is the key reason that the coalition has remained healthy for so many years. “I guess you could say we’ve been institutionalized,” says the director of the coalition, Cindy Carlson. “We’ve become a part of the infrastructure of the community.”
For 13 years, one of the most integral aspects of the Coalition for Youth has been the Hampton Youth Commission. The young people sitting on this commission are not just responsible to themselves or a small group of people – they have a very critical role in the affairs of the entire city. As members of the commission, young people “Represent Hampton youth on issues important to them; identify ways to improve Hampton for its youth; appropriate funds for youth related activities; [and] act as an advisory board to City Council and other groups.”
One of the programs the Youth Commission takes on every year is the grant program. It is the youth’s job to complete the entire grant process, from drafting an RFP to reviewing applicants and finally awarding the grant money. “Our funding comes from the city council,” says Quelonda McCrae, the Youth Commission coordinator. It is her job to guide the commission along its path as the members meet, brainstorm, and take action. “The city allows these young people to appropriate up to $40,000 a year. They send out the RFPs, call in applicants for interviews and conduct a public formal recommendation for funding.” The grants are awarded during two funding cycles to businesses and organizations with youth-friendly ideas. “The wonderful thing about the grant program is that it is very open; it doesn’t have a ton of guidelines,” says McCrae. “Groups don’t have to be a 501 c3. As long as the activity that they are seeking funding for is either youth-led or planned by youth, it can be funded. And let me tell you,” she adds with a laugh, “these young people are strict.”
The City of Hampton was fortunate 17 years ago to have a mayor and a city manager that were very innovative and interested in doing something positive to help the youth in their community. They brought the right people to the table and came up with an idea that has kept Hampton youth involved in community life ever since. “It was really the right combination of people that were willing to take a risk,” says Carlson. “It changed our community forever.”
Information for this article was taken, in part, from the Hampton Youth Commission website.
Cindy Carlson can be reached by phone at (757) 728-3280 and by email at ccarlson@hampton.gov
Quelonda McCrae can be reached by phone at (757) 728-3285 and by email at qmccrae@hampton.gov
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