We’re sure that you were as alarmed about the information on the Home page as we were. While there are many good things happening in Gaston County, there continues to be issues that need to be dealt with – teen pregnancy, duplication or gaps in services for youth, depression in teens – just to name a few.

Priority issues are established by the Board of Directors each year using the many different needs assessment tools available in Gaston County and in the state. The staff works on these issues and any new ones that surface as the year progresses.

This work could include convening a group of youth agencies to develop a collaborative grant proposal to serve hundreds of children – which resulted in a multi-year $400,000 21st Century Community Learning Center grant in partnership with the Gaston County School system and 13 community youth agencies to remediate low performing students in four schools and offer their families additional services to assist in raising student achievement.