Resident urges Lancaster to fund NAACP youth program and thanks police for assistance

A Lancaster resident, identified in the meeting as Melissa Jones, used the public-comment period to both commend the city’s police department for a recent late-night safety response and to ask the council for financial and facility support for a local NAACP youth program.

"I just want the city to know that the police department is here for me," Jones said, recounting officers who met her while she waited in her car late at night. She praised that personal response even as she acknowledged broader community concerns about policing.

Jones also described a weeklong NAACP youth program (noted in the remarks as an Afro Academics, STEM & Organization program) that drew participants from multiple zip codes and nearby towns, and said organizers faced funding and facility shortages for summer activities. "We need financial support and we need the help with finding facilities," she told the council, asking that the program be considered for inclusion in this year’s budget or next.

Jones said the program plans additional events in June and a grand finale in September and emphasized work on performing and visual arts, model poetry and commercial-writing activities; she asked staff to follow up with contact information before leaving for another meeting.

Council members did not take immediate action during the public-comment period but staff and council indicated the request would be acknowledged; Jones provided contact information for follow-up.