Henry County has included the creation of two Boys & Girls Club locations as part of its upcoming fifth SPLOST.
Leaders of the south metro community voted Monday to include $2 million for the clubs as part of this fall’s vote for the county’s next Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
If approved by voters, the clubs could be up and running as early as summer 2020, the county said. The clubs will be located in McDonough, one on the city’s east side and the other on its west side.
Henry Commissioner Dee Clemmons, a leader in the effort to bring a Boys & Girls Club to the county, said the local group will be modeled after a program in Forsyth-Monroe County. In that program, the club is backed by a partnership between the county and the school system.
Henry’s Boys & Girls Clubs will have the support of McDonough, Henry County and the Henry County Board of Education.
“We began this process 15 months ago when we recruited a steering committee to complete a community assessment,” Clemmons said in a statement. “Earlier in the year, along with city officials, my colleagues on the BOC and the county manager, we did a county tour with the Metro Atlanta Boys and Girls Club.
“Since the tour, we have chosen to proceed with a school-based model contingent upon support of the Henry County School Board,” she said.
Phillip Bryant, CEO and president of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, applauded the efforts of Henry leaders to bring the program to their community.
“We think this is the right direction for us to expand services and we have received several phone calls asking if we were planning to come to Henry County,” Bryant said. “I’m hoping we can get the ball rolling.”
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