Group wants county to say Y.E.S.

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
A local group of volunteers and community educators are working together to make sure county residents are able to get all the help they can.
The group will be working to secure grant funding for education, workforce development and for senior citizens.
The Y.E.S. program, whose initials stand for youth, employment and seniors, is made up of a group of local volunteers who saw a need in the county.
Dr. Susan Hargett, who coordinates the Franklin County Community Education program, said she first saw the need for such an organization in 2003. But one thing or another kept causing the group's formation to be delayed.
Finally, in 2008, all the pieces came together.
"It's amazing when you have a dream for so long and then you finally see it come to a reality," she said Tuesday night during the group's first annual meeting.
Hargett said she first noticed the need while working to secure grants for the Franklin County school system.
"When I first started applying for grants, I saw all kinds of grants that we weren't eligible for," Hargett said. "There are all kinds of grants out there to go after to meet all the needs of our community, it just takes us all working together. Russellville and Franklin County are not competing."
The Y.E.S. program will seek grants not only for education, but also to help senior citizens and the area's workforce.
Hargett said most students who graduate high school seek to enter the workforce rather than going to college.
"It's not all about English, math and social studies," she said. "Eighty-five percent of our graduates will be working with their hands. We have to do a better job now than ever to educate our kids."
Y.E.S. foundation coordinator Carolyn Hovater said there is a great deal of potential for the area through the program.
"We just need lots of community support and help," she said.
The group meets at 4:30 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at the Elizabeth Lucas courthouse annex.