Why We Need the Reston Youth Network (RYN): All youth should have access to well-planned, stimulating, and well-supervised extra-curricular activities regardless of income-level or access to transportation. Youth who are engaged in these activities are less likely to be involved in negative behaviors, including truancy, vandalism and gangs. FPY has partnered with key Reston organizations to work toward this goal in a multi-phase plan to address this need.
    
How We Do It: FPY staff serve as the steering committee to a complex group of community partners (listed below) who work together on committees dedicated to addressing specific aspects of the initiative, including transportation, a common application process, marketing, and others. Robert Simon, the founder of the initiative, serves with other community stakeholders on an Advisory committee, which plans the overall mission, vision, and scope of the RYN. The committees have worked together to design and implement a website, ForYouthInformation.org, or FYI, that represents the goals of the initiative, serving to improve information and access for Reston youth to extracurricular activities.  

Reston Youth Network Results: FPY Staff and partners from many Fairfax County and Reston organizations have successfully launched the website in the first phase of this ambitious project, and several launch fairs were held to familiarize the community with the site. These launch fairs were attended by over 125 teens, parents, and other community members. In the next phase of the initiative, the RYN team is working on improving access to transportation and registration assistance for youth who qualify.

Partners:

Fairfax County Department of Community and Recreation Services
Reston Teen Center
Southgate Community Center
Reston Community Centers, Hunters Woods and Lake Anne
Reston Association
Fairfax County Public Schools: South Lakes High School and Langston Hughes Middle School
YMCA Reston
Fairfax County Park Authority – RecPAC and Parktakes
Reston Interfaith


Links:

www.ForYouthInformation.org