Regional Spotlight: South Euclid

This month's Regional Spotlight features South Euclid! The spotlight allows us to highlight the amazing work of all our neighborhoods by asking them questions including their goals for the year, priorities for youth development, and more! This month, we have chosen to feature South Euclid. Rebekah Forst, the Regional Coordinator of South Euclid, spoke in-depth about what the center's mission is and how they are working to achieve that. The following is a Q&A with a MyCom Communications team member and Rebekah.  

1. Question: What are SE'S priorities for youth development? 
South Euclid MyCom’s priorities for youth development are 1) to get as many youth
involved as possible, 2) to promote or elevate youth access to quality programs, 3) to learn
(through continuous dialogue) the needs of our young people and to then work to meet those
needs, and 4) to help the youth build the necessary skills to become successful adults.

2. Question: Does SE have any plans for youth development? 
South Euclid MyCom strives to coordinate strategies that promote positive youth
development. During the pandemic, there was a pause on our Youth Council but we are
currently in the process of revamping it. Much of our youth development vision will be realized
through our Youth Council meetings. We plan to teach the youth about how the local, state, and
federal government function. We want to teach our young people effective leadership skills and
various ways that they can successfully advocate for themselves, as well as others.
We want to help ensure that the youth voice is included in various decision making
processes. And lastly we want to reach a diverse group of children, teens, and young adults by
being intentional about the types of programs that our partner organizations are hosting. Our
partners have been doing a great job of that. If you look at our Spring 2022 South Euclid
Magazine, specifically on pages 20 and 21, you will see the breadth of youth activities that our
MyCom Partners have coming up.

3. Question: Who are the partners of SE? 
Below is a list of the current partners for the South Euclid MyCom region (in alphabetical order)::
○ City of South Euclid - Lead Agency
○ Browns Barkers
○ First Baptist Church of South Euclid
○ Garfield Memorial Church
○ Heights-Hillcrest Regional Chamber of Commerce
○ Hillcrest Family YMCA
○ Notre Dame College
○ One South Euclid
○ South Euclid-Lyndhurst Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library
○ South Euclid-Lyndhurst City School District
○ South Euclid-Lyndhurst SeaMonkeys
○ South Euclid-Lyndhurst Soccer Club (SELSC)
○ South Euclid United Church of Christ
○ South Euclid Youth Softball and Baseball Association (SEYSBA)
○ Team Couture Youth Center

4. Question: What does your neighborhood plan include? 
Although we are currently working on updating our neighborhood plan, it includes the
convening of stakeholders, being intentional about including youth voice, our partners
successfully coordinating and hosting events with one another, and more. One word that we
feel truly encapsulates our vision for how we will accomplish this is “collaboration.” Through
collaboration, we want to create the best programs for our youth.

5. Question: What are SE’s goals for this year? 
South Euclid’s goals for this year include 1) effectively relaunching in-person
programming that were lost as a result of the pandemic, 2) successfully implementing our Youth
Council, and 3) Working with our community partners to create and implement impactful
programs that effectively serve our youth and young adults.