Newark Youth Can Find Activities, Programs With Online ‘Locator’

NEWARK, NJ — There are plenty of teens and kids with free time in Newark. There are also plenty of safe and enriching activities happening in the city – and a recently relaunched online “locator” aims to connect Newark’s youth with these valuable resources.

Mayor Ras Baraka joined United Way of Greater Newark president and CEO Catherine Wilson to relaunch the Newark Thrives Youth Program Locator on Thursday. It can be accessed online here.

The program is a multi-lingual online tool designed to connect young people and their families with a wide range of educational and recreational programs throughout the city (learn more here).

According to a news release:

“The Newark Thrives Youth Program Locator now features an intuitive interface that allows users to filter search results by location, age, interest, cost, and availability, ensuring that every family can find programs that meet their unique needs. The platform provides detailed information about each program, including schedules, activities, enrollment procedures, and contact details. It also offers resources for children with special needs and supports multiple languages to accommodate all families in our diverse community.”

The relaunched locator has seen the input of some local teens. Last year, three youth – Jabree Christopher (Senior), Teniola Awonorin (Junior) and William Navarro (Senior) from Gateway Academy and Donald M. Payne Sr. Technical School – worked with a website development team to improve the existing site.

“I want to thank the United Way of Greater Newark, Newark Thrives, the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, and the three young people who showed tremendous innovation in enhancing this platform,” Baraka said.

“This tool will enable youth and families to engage in meaningful and structured environments to help advance their personal, cultural, and social capacity – all at the same time,” the mayor continued. “It will also allow caring institutions to put their information on this website, so they can attach themselves to a pipeline of young people, who seek to enter their programs. They have created an opportunity to make this process easier for youth and their families.”

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