Networking Conversation #3

My third conversation was with Chrystal. Her masterpiece is to help provide free activities for the kids in Santa Maria, so that they don't turn to drugs and alcohol. She doesn't just want to do this in Santa Maria, but in all small communities where there is not a lot for teens so they turn to gangs and drugs. She wants activities that don't charge money because there is many teenagers that cannot afford to pay for basketball leagues and other things that cost a lot of money. Many teenagers believe that there is nothing better to do in this community so they start to do drugs, which leads to addiction and trouble with law. This makes the community become unsafe and a place where people do not like to go. She is not only helping teenagers by helping to provide these activities, but also the community as a whole because less people will be getting into trouble. She is not entirely sure what kind of things she wants to do, but she knows for sure that she wants to help provide a fun, sober atmosphere. There are programs like this already like the Abel Maldonado Center, but a lot of kids don't utilize these programs, so she wants to make it something that many of the kids participate in. She is thinking of partnering with CJ from fighting back Santa Maria and other programs in the community in order to make these activities popular and something the teenagers actually take part in. This is perfect for Chrystal because she is involved in a lot of extracurricular activities and can hopefully extend those to the rest of the community.  Chrystal has a lot of cousins and little kids that she knows; this will motivate her to keep encouraging kids and teenagers to take part in these sober activities and not turn to drugs. I hope she not only influences the children she knows, but so many more throughout the community.