NRPA's Youth Town Hall Forum: America's youth band together to reduce violence and improve their communities. (Rec Room).

On April 30, hundreds of young people in Cincinnati, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle came together in a virtual summit to share ideas and compare notes on violence, recreation, nightlife and other hot topics. Afterwards, the youth in each city began work to resolve issues of particular importance to their cities.

This year is the first time that four cities simultaneously participated in the Urban Youth Initiative, co-sponsored by the National Recreation and Parks Association and Rotary International Task Force on Crime Reduction and Violence Prevention. These workshops bring together local service organizations, businesses and government agencies to discuss a unified plan for working with youth in the community.

"The goal is to create an infrastructure where youth have opportunities to communicate and implement their views and opinions in collaboration with other youth, adults and organizations," says Reco Bembry, NRPA Senior Consultant for this National Youth Town Hall Forum. From this forum, a national youth-involvement movement will be sparked, with the goal of including more cities each year.

In each city, the mayor along with other elected officials and community leaders have committed to providing support to the students by opening the lines of communication and discussing the implementation of the youths' ideas and action plans.

In April 2001, a Seattle citywide youth summit hosted by the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle engaged youth and adults from diverse institutions, including law enforcement, education and government; parents; the media; and faith-based organizations. The forum focused on issues critical to youth empowerment, opportunity and success, culminating in strategic recommendations to strengthen the lives of youth and their access to opportunities. "Our whole goal is to give young adults an opportunity to take charge, and to have a voice," said James Kelly, president and chief executive officer of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. The 2001 citywide forum resulted in the development of what is now known as The Youth Congress.

The Virtual Summit was held April 30 and leveraged technology by using teleconference and Internet technology along with digital pictures and interactive polling. The National Recreation and Park Association, which supports community technology through encouraging the development of Local Access Places (LAPS), hopes to spark community development, support and resources for urban youth who might not have access to technology year round.

The vision of creating or "running" a community LAP is a concept that Max Gail, actor/activist, and participant in the Urban Youth Initiative, began advocating years ago. According to Gail, "Using the Internet to bring inner city youth together from across the nation on April 30 is just one innovative way we can leverage technology to share and reapply learning that helps young people make their cities, and indeed the world, a better place." Max is the caretaker of the LAP concept and can be contacted at www.lap.org.

"Young people are our most prized possession and are in critical need of healthy outlets and opportunities to nurture their minds and foster their spirits for a healthy life," said Sonia Amir, Director of Youth Services for the National Recreation and Park Association. "Park and recreation resources provide youth with innovative programs and activities to reinforce creativity and challenge new skills. If past events are an indication of potential success, the Urban Youth Initiative will do just that."

For more information on NPRA Youth Initiatives and to learn how to get involved, please visit www.nrpa.org or contact Sonia Amir at 703-858-2199 or [e-mail].