Manatee County, Florida
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Community name: Manatee County
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Community or city website
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Population: 322,833
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Graduation rate: 63.9%
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Youth poverty rate: 18.6%
Overview
As a fifth-time 100 Best Communities for Young People winner, Manatee County continues support the development of its young people with a variety of mentor programs, health initiatives and volunteer opportunities. Hands On Manatee helps youth find volunteer opportunities and scholarships, while ManaTEENS offers teens from underserved communities opportunities to give back to their community and attend after-school programs. Manatee County also helps LGBT youth through its teen-led Prism Youth Initiative which offers support groups and safe space for teens to gather. Keeping youth healthy is another priority in Manatee County. Through its Healthy Teen Coalition, young people can learn about living a healthy and responsible life with free health tests and education resources. To make sure parents know about these resources, the community hosts an Annual Children’s Summit highlighting services available to youth and their families.
Community Programs
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Hands On Manatee , the Volunteer Center for Manatee County, helps young people find volunteer opportunities and scholarships.
- The Annual Children’s Summit helps inform the public about services available for youth and families through nonprofit and government initiatives.
- The ManaTEENs program offers teens from underserved and vulnerable communities opportunities to volunteer, attend after-school programs and complete other various activities designed to show young people how to create positive change.
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The Rotary Club has collaborated with Reading Patches to help promote youth literacy, and with Kids Against Hunger to help feed hungry families.
- The Prism Youth Initiative supports GLBT youth through teen-led support groups.
- The Healthy Teen Coalition offers free testing and information to educate teens about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
Youth Voices
Manatee County has given me more opportunities than other places I have previous lived. It has given me the opportunity to volunteer in places that appeal to my interests, like beach cleanups. It has also offered me great programs like Dual Enrollment that has inspired me to achieve more in school.
—Deyanira
Kids and young adults can join ManaTEENS as a way to have fun, keep motivated and meet new people. At ManaTEENS, we do activities such as cleaning beaches, helping the elderly and painting houses.
—Tomas