Northside Youth nears $28.6 million goal, seeks community support
As the Northside Youth Organization reaches 90 percent of its $28.6 million fundraising goal, it is shifting gears and now asking families and individual supporters of the nonprofit’s athletic programs to help it reach the finish line.
Josh Burr, the executive director of the Northside Youth Organization (NYO), told Rough Draft that the capital campaign will fund the addition of a second gym, meeting space, training space, a larger weight room, and renovations to an existing gym. The additional gym space may enable an expansion of girls’ basketball and help facilitate the addition of recreational volleyball to NYO’s programs.
The capital campaign began with a large contribution from former Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning and his wife, Sarah, NYO’s first big donors. It funded a new turf field, the largest at Chastain Park. Fanning Field is now a year-round site for baseball and football.
Galloway School and NYO partnership runs deep
The Galloway School has supported NYO for years, and the school and the nonprofit share athletic facilities. Fanning Field now serves as Galloway’s home field for its boys’ and girls ‘soccer matches. Several Galloway teams also use it as a practice space. Galloway basketball and volleyball teams have used the existing gym at Chastain Park.
Fanning has coached football, baseball, and basketball at the park. After graduating from high school, he planned to attend West Point to play football. But a broken ankle suffered during practice ended those plans. That’s when he got a call from NYO to help coach, and 43 years later, he’s still volunteering.
Fanning and his family have been involved in sports for many years. His brother, wife, and in-laws were athletes, and his daughter and sons played in several NYO programs. Over the years, he’s seen kids he coached come back as adults with their own children enrolling in the programs.
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The City of Atlanta budgeted $4.5 million toward the capital campaign’s new gym and renovations. Burr said that the initial donation encouraged others to participate.
The city will spend what Burr estimates will be $16 million to $20 million to build a parking garage with about 300 spaces next door to the gym. Though not part of the NYO capital campaign or using its donations, the garage will provide needed parking for the added demand.
High demand for NYO programs
NYO, founded in 1949, offers baseball, boys’ and girls’ basketball, softball, cheerleading, flag and tackle football for kids ages 4 to 18. Burr said the organization has more than 15,000 registrations annually.
Atlanta’s 2010 comprehensive master plan for Chastain Park determined the park needed more gym space. NYO figures showing annual waiting lists of 150 to 200 kids for basketball support the plan’s conclusions that more access is needed. Burr said that the waiting list continues to grow even though NYO rents another eight to 10 gyms from schools and churches across the city.
“Success breeds success, but the demand for participation in NYO programs has outstripped the resources,” Hertz told Rough Draft.
Burr said NYO constantly seeks off-site gym space. The obstacle is that those schools and churches often have their own basketball leagues, limiting the time the facilities are available.
NYO lost one of its main hubs this year at Sandy Springs United Methodist Church’s gym, which they leased seven days a week. That property was sold in June and the buildings were being torn down for Hillcrest, a mixed-use development by High Street Residential and Third & Urban.
Burr said community members regularly volunteer their services to NYO. The capital campaign began the same way, with strong engagement and participation from NYO families.
Hertz is one of those volunteers who keeps putting his hand up. He started working with NYO after college, coaching baseball and basketball. His children were participants, and now he’s coaching and watching his grandchildren in NYO programs.
“I think the whole opportunity to participate in team sports, to be exposed to other young people that may come from different backgrounds, different schools, different backgrounds than what some of us have experienced, frankly, I think that’s invaluable,” Hertz said.
Fanning, a member of the Georgia Tech athletic board, said students participating at the college level and in NYO programs gain an education that they aren’t taught in school. Sports participation includes lessons on failing and succeeding, the need to be disciplined and work hard, and the importance of making a commitment to the team.
“One of the things that we’ve got to come back in touch with is a competitive, positive spirit of unity. We’re so divisive as a society right now, we need things to rally around that are positive and good, and I think sports is one way to help inculcate that into our American culture,” Fanning said.
Hertz, the chairman and CEO of United Distributors, a beverage distribution business, also devotes his time to help other nonprofit organizations that are youth-focused, such as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Camp Twin Lakes.
Other NYO initiatives: mental health, summer camp assistance
Burr said the last few years NYO has focused on its scholarship fund to assure that kids who participate are a better reflection of the population of the city of Atlanta. The scholarship fund will be the third stage in its capital campaign.
NYO started summer camps using some grant money from the city of Sandy Springs. Burr said that those camps have grown, but to provide more opportunities for children in the Chastain Park neighborhood and farther out in areas like Sandy Springs and Brookhaven will require more funding.
NYO has done a lot of work over the past year focusing on mental health. Burr said it has been working with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta on programming, providing guidance and expertise on youth health and safety. The NYO gym will have space for physical therapy, health clinics, and volunteer trainings, as well as an opportunity to have an on-site athletic trainer during events.
NYO also partners with Hillside, a residency center for kids who struggle with mental health, which helps participants to improve their mental health and well-being to increase self-esteem, creativity, and cognitive performance.
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