A-List Program to Help At-Risk Youth

BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. - A new program plans to help at-risk youth in the Metro. Matt Norris and Asha Sharma are college students who want to help teens in Brooklyn Park. They've won thousands of dollars in grants to support their program called the A-List that keeps teens off the streets.

A new store will open this fall for youth. It will be more than just a place of employment that sells snacks, teen clothes and more, but it will also be a hang out, a place to get tutored and do college prep work.

At night, when youth crime spikes the most, it will be a place for kids to come dance or showcase their talents.

The goal will be to give students skills to become entrepreneurs and learn about the business world now, so they can get jobs later.

"In Brookyn Park 75 percent of teens or 6,000 are not participating in an afterschool activity," Asha Sharma said. "40 percent of people arrested are teens, so we call it a youth engagment, becauese there's only 3 opportunites for them to get involved afterschool, compared to the 26 in Minneapolis and 33 in St. Paul."

The space they hope to use is at Brooklyn Blvd and Zane, near schools and housing.

The A-List is competing for a  $25,000 grant until April, 30th. They need the community to go on line and vote for them in a Pepsi competition. www.refresheverything.com/thealistyouth
www.thealistyouth.org

Matt and Asha have received financial support from Ernst & Young, Target Corp., over $50,000 from the city of Brooklyn Park, many private donations from individuals, and have verbal commitments of support from multiple Fortune 500 companies in the area.