The Eleanor J. Johnson Youth Center in Ft. Walton Beach has been open for over twenty years, although many in the community are unaware of it. However, a University of West Florida marketing class is hoping to change that.
The center provides services for children ages six to seventeen after school and throughout the summer on a first come first serve basis. Todd Gatlin, the Executive Director of EJYC is a local Choctaw graduate and former professional football player. Gatlin says no specific criteria needs to be met to attend the center, children from all walks of life are welcome, “A lot of people think that this is just for public housing kids. No. It’s for any kids in our community and we’re going to welcome those kids to come to our program. So, there’s not stipulations that you’ve got to live here, that you’ve got to make X amount of money or anything like that. It’s pretty much if you need service and we have the slots available then you can come to our program.”
More often than not, the kids at the center come from single parent homes and are considered at risk. However, the programs offered are tailored to help them succeed. The programs are both educational and recreational including the use of a computer lab, arts and crafts, music, field trips, and various sports as well as daily help with homework.
When I arrived at the center the kids were finishing up a spaghetti lunch with salad, diced pears, garlic bread, and chocolate milk. All of which were donated and served by members of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, who provides meals for the center’s kids daily during the summer.
After lunch, the center is a buzz with activity, as a few of the older kids and staff prepare for the afternoon’s arts and craft of tie-dying t-shirts.
Sa’miracle Hough is 9 years old and has been coming to the center for the last 5 years. Hough says she enjoys a variety of things about her time here, “I get to meet new people every day and I just get to learn about different things.”
“What’s your favorite activity to do here?”
“That’s kind of hard because we do a lot of stuff.”
Stopping by for a visit is one of the center’s success stories, nineteen year old Curtis Jarrett. Jarrett started at the center when he was about six, and through the guidance of the center’s staff, he is the first in his family to graduate high school and go to college, “Since then I’ve grown up and I’ve also volunteered so I’ve given back. And, I come here when I can since I’m so busy now with job and school at Northwest out in Niceville.”
“Where do you work at?”
“At Michles and Booth and at Walmart in the electronics department.”
Jarrett says his life is thriving today because he learned one very important lesson that’s always stuck with him: discipline, “The discipline of being a gentleman. Just manners and them also staying on top of me and things. It got to a point where they didn’t have to worry about checking my grades or anything. I would always be on top of myself, and like I said with the manners and all.”
“So, through their discipline, it taught you self discipline.”
“Uh huh. Exactly.”
It’s the positive influence on Jarrett and other youth who’ve come through the center that makes director Todd Gatlin proud.
“When you think about it, we’ve been around for over twenty years. We’re not a “Boys and Girls Club,” we’re not a “YMCA.” We’re just a small organization trying to impact the young people that come in our path.”
Although the center is one of 42 agencies that’s a part of United Way of Okaloosa and Walton Counties, it remains a small organization, with limited funding, which makes keeping their doors open to fulfill their mission difficult. That’s where the Integrated Marketing Communications class at UWF’s Emerald Coast Campus comes in.
In a span of five weeks, a class of ten students used their class project to boost community awareness of the center and its success stories through a diverse marketing campaign consisting of traditional and digital media.
Kameron Miller is part of the class’s traditional media team and helped create billboards that will be displayed around the area this summer. Miller says the billboard’s tag line “Success Stories” derives from the potential of the kids at the center with the right support from the community, “The whole target audience for the whole campaign is really to reach potential donors and volunteers that can you know, show up at the center and be around the kids, help mentor the kids. And, hopefully some donors to be able to help financially support the center a little more and maybe ease the burden.”
Mariah Singerman is part of the class’s Public Relations team that helped secure funding from a couple of local businesses to pay for the media portion of the campaign. Singerman says it’s the small steps you take that help in a big way, “We see what y'all are doing, y'all are working so hard. It’s about moving the needle; it’s about making a difference. It’s not always about the biggest budget or the most experienced team. It’s about making a difference with the resources that you have. And, we see y'all doing that at the youth center.”
The campaign is ongoing and not only consists of billboards, but also posters and bookmarks that will be handed out to high school leadership students and churches in hopes of gaining volunteers. The students helped improve the center’s website EJYC.org to make it more user friendly. A Facebook and Instagram page were established. And, since its creation the number of “likes” to the center’s Facebook page has already doubled, prompting the UWF students to want to continue maintaining the social media sites even after the class has ended.
On the web at EJYC.org
On Facebook at Facebook.com/EleanorJJohnsonYouthCenter
On Instagram at @EJJYCenter #IAmEJYC