Town of Paradise, California

Youth Council

Click here for Youth Council Agendas.

A Brief History:

As a result of the tragic deaths of Paradise youth several years ago in our community, and after a series of meetings with concerned parents and citizens, the Paradise Unified School District hosted a one-day event "Renewing Our Vision for Youth on the Ridge."

This community event included a well represented cross-section of youth and adults, as well as private, public and non-profit organizations.

This event focused on introducing the participants and our community to the 40-development assets-rich community model for our youth. Essentially, this one-day event challenged the participants (of all ages) to work together towards this vision of an assets-rich community for our youth.

This event resulted in the creation of Project Vision, which is an ongoing committee of adults and youth representing different sectors of our community, and whose purpose is to serve as the "umbrella" group that facilitates and keeps the momentum going to achieve an assets-rich community for our youth.

This challenge to the community prompted the Paradise Town Council to identify the creation of a Youth Council as one of their priorities for 2005. As a result, the Paradise Youth Council was established by the Paradise Town Council in January, 2005.

Part of the report submitted by the Town Manager to the Town Council on the night they approved the Youth Council clearly expressed the reasons why such a youth empowering action was necessary:

"In every community, there are many youth with tremendous promise, who for a variety of reasons are rarely given opportunities to shine in terms of their natural abilities, or to do something of real meaning, purpose and significance at this point in their life.

In addition, many of these same youth are increasingly alienated from any real, positive adult involvement, interaction or interest in their lives.

The Town of Paradise believes that our youth have a great deal more to offer our community than has been traditionally recognized. We know from our recent experiences with the inclusion of youth representatives on various Town advisory commissions and committees that these have been mutually rewarding experiences for adults and youth members alike. These youth have made outstanding contributions to the decisions made by the Town in a variety of public policy areas.

However, this unique experience has only touched a limited number of youth in this community. We believe that the creation of a youth council, with their providing additional youth to get involved in a volunteer community service corps greatly contributes to an assets-rich community for our youth."

About the Paradise Youth Council:

The seven-member Paradise Youth Council is open to any high school-age youth attending a private or public high school in Paradise. Terms of office are staggered with four seats serving one-year terms (from the beginning of the school term to the end of August) and three seats serving two-year terms.

The Paradise Youth Council meets monthly on the third Monday of each month at 6:30 P.M. in the Paradise Town Council Chambers. All meetings are open to the public and

the Youth Council operates under the Brown Act. The youth of our community are encouraged to attend these meetings and to provide their ideas and opinions on the various issues being addressed by the Youth Council.

Our Youth Council serves two distinct roles. The first role is to serve as an advisory body to the Town Council on youth-related issues in Paradise. The second and equally important role for the Youth Council is to provide the leadership and governance of the "Team Paradise" Community Service Corps Program for high school and middle school age youth in our community.

Summary of Accomplishments (to date):

· Co-sponsored with Project Vision the recent May 22 "Gaining Ground" 3rd annual community meeting

· Kicked-off the "Team Paradise" Community Service Corps Program with an orientation and Midnight Movie at Cinema 7 Theatres

· Sponsored the first annual youth forum at Paradise High School in February, 2006 which featured a number of organizations and opportunities for youth to get involved in their community.

· Established the Midnight Movie Program in concert with Cinema 7 Theatres, over eight months ago to provide the youth in our community with a safe place to go at night and to hang out while seeing a free, specially run, favorite old movie.

Since its inception, this once-a-month program has been highly successful in attracting on average 180 youth predominately of high school age.

WE NEED DONATIONS!!!

The cost to subsidize the Program so that it remains free to youth is $ 650 per month ( movie rental, utilities, etc.) . So far the Youth Council has raised one-year pledges for $ 350 per month from Paradise merchants, community organizations and individual citizens. However, up until now, Council Member Scott Lotter has kindly subsidized the balance of the Program costs out of his own pocket since it began. Therefore, the Youth Council is asking for additional donations to keep this program going for the benefit of our Paradise youth.

If you're interested in helping us with a donation for this program, send your tax deductible check to the Paradise Community Foundation at 6249 Skyway, Paradise, CA 95969. Please note on the check that its for the Midnight Movie Program.

Contact Paradise Youth Council

top

Town of Paradise Home * Town Government * Town Council * Budget & Finance * Economic Development * Planning Commission * Building Permits * Economic Revitalization * Business & Housing * Public Works * What's New * Redevelopment * Police Dept. * Fire Dept. * Homeland Security * Public Meetings * Onsite * Links * Contacts * Feedback * Site Map