MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach leaders are working to bring together young people throughout Horry County to give them a voice in the community and help stop violence.
Clergy Action Team member, Tim McCray, wants to bring a program called the Youth Leadership Council to Horry County. He worked with this program in New York, and he said this is something local youth could benefit from as well.
“There are issues in the community that face youth, but there’s not a voice,” said McCray. “Here with this council, you’ll have youth coming from different agencies that will share that voice and come out and see what can we do to come up with a solution.”
After bringing together professional agencies at the Stop the Violence event in October, McCray said the community needs to do the same for organizations that work with young people. He has already started gathering ideas about what problems kids are facing, like bullying and violence. McCray said he wants to work with the youth council to teach them how to deal with conflict resolution and avoid violent behavior.
“We’re here to teach them that bullying and violence doesn’t have to be the norm,” said McCray.
He plans to work with organizations like Seahaven, the Mary C. Canty Lifelong Impacted Teen Advisory Board, Lighthouse, and Sound Off. “By bringing all these agencies together, we can share information and create a stronger network to help the youth in our community.”
McCray said the goal is to get as many different youth agencies together to form the Youth Leadership Council before the end of this school year.
