Summer youth programs hope to draw in more Columbus kids

By: Anna Hoffman | June 27th, 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Summer break is underway for central Ohio students, and this year, Columbus is making a $20 million-plus investment in youth programs with the goal of reducing violence.

In the last week, Columbus Police responded to at least five shooting incidents involving teenagers.

The Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children and the Columbus Urban League both received funding from the city. Leaders of both organizations said they’ve had more youth get involved this summer than in previous years.

They also believe their message is getting through, and hope the teens spread the word.

“I think just having them under our wing is keeping them out of a lot of trouble,” said Karla Harris, co-founder of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children.

Harris said more teens are wanting to become involved, which is why it is expanding its programming.

“It’s kind of exciting because the more you see them out there, they are into it,” Harris said. “They are texting my phone. ‘Do we have an event today?’ so it gets really exciting.”

This includes attending more community events and providing a paid stipend to youth who volunteer to help the organization out at these events. MOMCC also just launched its Mommy and Me program.

“The mothers in our program get together and we pair them with the youth and they engage with them, they stay in constant contact, they reach out to them personally,” Harris said.

Harris said if they continue to engage with the youth, she believes the violence will decrease.

Meanwhile, the Columbus Urban League is focusing on work-readiness skills.

“You’ve got six weeks of work-readiness training themed curriculum with our 14- and 15-year-olds,” said Chris Williams, the youth development and training director for the urban league’s Work Readiness Training University (WRTU). “We are sending out 100+ interns for the workforce to do internships make about $15 an hour.”

Leaders said the 300-plus youths involved are learning skills like resume-building, proper etiquette, and leadership.

Kiara Price has been a part of WRTU for three years and said it’s helped to build her confidence and leadership skills.

Price believes this program would be valuable to any teen in Columbus.

“Programs like this are very, very valuable to kids and teens in Columbus because they give kids something to do,” Price said. “So instead of being at home or playing around or having guns or anything like that they can just come here and feel safe.”

Price will be a senior at Columbus City Schools in the fall, hoping to study business at a historically black college or university.

Both organizations received funding from the City of Columbus’ more than $20 million investment.

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