l live in a rural area just south of a city with a population of 50-60,000 people. Our county has about 100,000 people, so many people live outside city limits. Even though I don’t live in the city or a typical neighborhood, I consider this city my community.

Like most small cities, ours is working hard to bring in businesses. We do have an Industrial Park and manufacturing businesses, though not many. After long, long years of wooing, we are finally going to get a Target. However, most of the businesses that come here are restaurants, which do not improve life for someone looking for a job that pays a living wage. So a lot is being done in that area, but our city has a poverty problem, a drug problem and a crime problem.

In addressing these problems, we have an astonishing number of “sober living facilities.” These can help people with addiction problems and those facing criminal charges by giving the courts a place they can reside outside of the jail. Our state has free and reduced priced lunches for children living in poverty, and some of the schools have been open in the summer with free lunches for those children who can get there. Our state offers free preschool, or early head start ,for low income families, which can really help. Our state also offers health care that costs the family nothing, covers everything including medications, much like Medicare.

As you can see, the state has some offerings that help the poor, but our city largely ignores them. The poor children are especially in need of help. And that is what I would improve.

Our city pool, and there is only one, is usually closed most of summer because of some problem or another. The city pool was never free, but it was affordable to most families with an entrance fee of $3.00. In an answer to this problem, the city built a gigantic pool off site from the schools to be used exclusively for swim meets and swim teams. It is not a place a child can go to swim during summer vacation.

We have parks, and that is nice. Parks are very useful for families, especially families with small children. We also have a small skate park, that some of the kids use. The public library also puts on events for kids, and we are lucky to still have one public library in our town – we used to have five.

What would I do? If money were no object, I would have at least one swimming pool that operates from Memorial Day to Labor Day with a walk in shallow end, slides and a splash pad. The cost would be free or a maximum of $3.00 per person. Free and reduced lunch children would enter for free or $1.00 each. The largest park in the city would offer free or very low cost day camps for children aged 5 through 15 with lessons in horticulture, agriculture and the children would plan and execute two gardens – one for flowers and one for vegetables. There would be field trips (do you remember field trips? The schools have all but eliminated them) to beautiful spots in nature to hike and swim. The poorest areas in the city would have community gardens, growing vegetables which everyone could share. At least 2 more libraries would be built and with open doors to their neighborhoods – offering a safe place for anyone to hang out during the day and read, watch movies, listen to music, use the computers and gather in a quiet and friendly atmosphere (as long as they respect the rules, un-housed persons and persons with mental health issues are welcome).

Other ideas: a mentoring program for teens that allows them to go to work with their mentor during school breaks and experience the working environment.
Free driver’s Ed offered at school and during school hours, or right after school. (remember driver’s Ed classes at school? for free?)
A big bus that would pick up kids from the city and take them to a farm. They could participate as little or as much as the farmer and child agree to as far as working with the land and animals.
Expand the local trade unions programs to include high school aged children in apprentice programs, leading to a trade and a career that would provide a real life.

There are so many other things that could be offered to the kids of our community that could entice them to think outside the box of their current situations, and resist the urge to use or sell drugs or get into trouble. We need programs that will work with kids after school to teach them to read – something most kids never learn to do.

These are my dreams. Any billionaires out there willing to talk?