LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The city of Louisville is looking to hire more people to work and volunteer at community centers. It’s part of an effort to expand hours for nights and weekends, and give young people more safe places to hang out.
Assistant Director of Recreation Ben Johnson oversees 13 community centers.
Eleven of them have vacancies from part-time to supervisor positions, he said.
“At the end of the day, what people are hearing consistently from the mayor’s office, things going on in the community, we’re looking to do extended hours,” he said. “We cannot offer extended hours with our current level of staffing and we would love to be able to offer more opportunities to the community.”
Since the start of the year, four homicide victims and seven shooting victims were under the age of 18, according to police. At last check, police data showed homicides were down about 15% and non-fatal shootings were down 20% from this time last year.
“Sometimes I’ve known some of these young people and, when I say that rips out your heart, it does. So that’s why a lot of us do what we do,” Johnson said.
Johnson is also encouraging members of the public to volunteer at centers if they can.
“Besides being a safe place, we want to be somewhere that young people in particular come to learn, to grow, to socialize, to get skills, to have adults that support them, to have peers that support them,” he said.
The city is interested in potentially extending hours until 10 p.m. on weekdays and adding Saturday hours, if staffing allows, Johnson said.
If you’re interested in working or volunteering at a community center, you can visit the city’s parks department website.