Why play simulated city Video Games when you can make things really happen where you live

Kids love their video games. One of the most popular on the market is Simcity.  The object of the game is to make things happen in a simulated city.  The city of Las Vegas is offering a bigger, better challenge to our city’s young residents, a chance to make things really happen where they live.

 Local youth who have bright ideas on how to improve their communities can get a jumpstart from the city of Las Vegas Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program (YNAPP). Grants up to $1,000 are available to youth in Las Vegas who have ideas for neighborhood improvement projects for the upcoming year. Applications will be accepted through November 18, 2005, until 5 p.m.

YNAPP builds the skills that all parents want their children to have such as initiative, leadership responsibility, creativity and teamwork.

 To qualify for the grants, the projects must be youth initiated and driven, located in the city limits and done in partnership with a neighborhood association/organization.  The youth groups are responsible for planning and executing the project and for matching their grant with volunteer labor, donated materials or cash. This innovative approach gives young Las Vegas residents a personal stake in getting things done and gives them valuable, hands-on experience with overcoming challenges. 

This is the sixth year the city has offered the grants. So far, grant recipients have stepped up with $641,736 in matching services to improve Las Vegas communities.

Successful YNAPP projects include nearly any positive project young Las Vegas residents devise to address a need in their community, including:

• Adopting senior retirement homes.
• Neighborhood and school cleanups.
• Community murals.
• Tutoring programs.
• Forums and plays to present information on youth issues.

The city of Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department is responsible for the Youth Neighborhood Association Partnership Program, which is designed to use the gifts of young people, while helping them grow into leaders in their community.  For more information or to apply, call Jocelyn Bluitt Fisher with the Neighborhood Services Department at 229-5267 or visit the city’s Web site at www.lasvegasnevada.gov.

YNAPP is just one of the many ways the city of Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department is helping neighborhoods help themselves.