Youth Mappers Are Hitting the Streets
The Community Youth Mapping project has launched, and organizers want local businesses, organizations, and community leaders to know that 32 young people — Youth Mappers — will be hitting the streets to distribute fliers that read, “The Mappers are Coming!”
Please anticipate that you might be approached in the next six weeks by a pair of young people who are mapping. The Youth Mappers will be wearing CYM T-shirts and caps.
“The success of their field research — and the information that our community needs — will depend on the community being ready and eager to participate. With their clipboards, pens, and our survey, the mappers will be looking to learn about people, places and spaces — people who mentor or work with young people, places that offer activities or support for young people, and spaces that are underutilized and might be ‘re-purposed’ for youth activities,” said Marcia Greenberg, chair of the Community Youth Mapping subcommittee of the Steering Committee for a Community/Youth Center.
The mapping will be taking place from July 13 through Aug. 17.
The young people will conduct a block-by-block inventory of resources in the Lexington Park, Great Mills, Park Hall, and California areas. They will comb the community, surveying the public in commercial areas, and interview representatives of agencies and local businesses. Their objective is to collect detailed information about the nature of places, people, and activities of relevance to young people, their families, and the community.
The Youth Mappers will enter the collected information into a database on a daily basis. By the end of the summer, the community mapping project will have information with which to discuss needs and gaps, opportunities for additional activities, and first steps toward establishing a community center with a strong focus on young people. The data will also result in a smartphone app with which young people, their parents, mentors, educators, and the broader community can identify activities according to interest or date and time.
For more information on the mapping project, contact Tracy Schrock, Community Youth Mapping project coordinator, at 240-431-1428.
For more about Lexington Park, visit the St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation’s Leader member page.
St. Mary’s County Community Development Corporation
46940 South Shangri-La Drive, Suite 7
Lexington Park, MD 20653
301-863-7700
