Metro Atlanta

Austell Youth Innovation Center given $100K by feds

June 5, 2019 Cobb County: Benjamin Brown turns his group’s water wheel during the ‘Water Is Life’ collaborative youth enrichment camp at the Austell Youth Innovation Center in Austell, Georgia. The goal of the Youth Innovation Center is to provide enrichment opportunities and improve graduation rates for youth in the surrounding community. The center opened on a site previously damaged by the 2009 floods. (Christina Matacotta/christina.matacotta@ajc.com)
June 5, 2019 Cobb County: Benjamin Brown turns his group’s water wheel during the ‘Water Is Life’ collaborative youth enrichment camp at the Austell Youth Innovation Center in Austell, Georgia. The goal of the Youth Innovation Center is to provide enrichment opportunities and improve graduation rates for youth in the surrounding community. The center opened on a site previously damaged by the 2009 floods. (Christina Matacotta/christina.matacotta@ajc.com)
By Carolyn Cunningham – For the AJC
Feb 16, 2022

A $100,000 grant will be given to the Austell Youth Innovation Center from the federal government through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

The center provides tutoring and educational support for students who would not have had this opportunity otherwise, according to Denise Lowe, director of the city’s Finance Department, in a Feb. 7 statement to Mayor Ollie Clemons Jr. and the City Council.

During the Council’s Feb. 7 meeting, Clemons said the center has “done a phenomenal job with the youth in our area,” serving all Title 1 schools in Austell during after-school breaks to improve graduation rates.

The students “were falling behind, and the pandemic exacerbated that. We’re very excited over the STEAM program they’ve done,” Clemons added.

In May 2019, the center opened at Legion Field, 5514 Austell Powder Springs Road, Austell on the site of a former senior center that was damaged extensively in the 2009 floods.

For more information about the center, visit AustellCityCollaborative@gmail.com.

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Carolyn Cunningham

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