The Invest Atlanta Board of Directors approved a $1 million grant from the Campbellton Road Tax Allocation District (TAD) to support the construction of the Andrew Young At-Promise Center.
The At-Promise Youth and Community Center will be a 15,000 square foot state-of-the-art learning and community facility located on the campus of the existing Walter and Andrew Young YMCA. It will house specialized services for youth and be a gathering place for residents, group activities and other purposes.
The facility will allow community stakeholders such as the Boys and Girl Clubs, Chris 180, Police Athletic, Street Smart Youth Project, and the Urban League to counsel at-risk youth and prevent further community crime. Funding for the facility will also come from the Coca-Cola and SunTrust Foundations.
The Center is envisioned as a place that provides youth with positive opportunities to view police and public institutions as partners and to have full access to an excellent education, premier health and social services and a community untroubled by violence. Teens in at-risk communities have a higher likelihood of being involved in criminal activity; in fact, last year, more than 50% of the crime in Atlanta was committed by juveniles.
Within the At-Promise Center, the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) has created a collaborative community hub where youth receive personalized and comprehensive intervention plans within one facility. APF engages leading youth service providers and experts to operate within the Center to provide wrap-around services. This form of intervention and diversion provides officers with an alternative youth arrest.
The At-Promise Initiative also creates an avenue of prevention for teens considered at-risk for committing crimes. It is designed to set youth on a safer path to a brighter future. The first At-Promise Center opened its doors in the English Avenue neighborhood in August of 2017. The Center has served about 400 youth from the community, far exceeding expectations. The second At-Promise Center will be located on Metropolitan Parkway.