In 1990, the Gaston County United Way approached four of their existing agencies that served youth in various capacities. These four agencies were:

• Gaston County Children’s Council
• Horizon Youth Services
• Adolescent Health Council
• Gaston Families for Drug-Free Youth

All of these agencies worked together in a collaborative setting through grants and shared programs. The United Way requested these four groups merge to reduce overhead and to streamline services.

During 1991, all four Boards met under the guidance of the United Way to merge the agencies and pledged to fully fund the administrative costs of this new agency into the future. In 1992, the Alliance for Children & Youth, Inc. was formed and Priscilla “Brownie” Smyre was named Executive Director.