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Community groups announce youth resilience summit and detention-center book drive at JCPC meeting

Buncombe County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) · February 20, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

At the Feb. 19 JCPC meeting, James Allegretto of Youth in North Carolina promoted a March 18 Youth Resilience Summit in Asheville with scholarships available; an attorney and DJJ court counselor described a book drive supplying paperbacks to youth at Alexander Detention Center.

During the public-comment portion of the Feb. 19 Buncombe County JCPC meeting, James Allegretto, executive director of Youth in North Carolina, announced a Youth Resilience Summit in Asheville on March 18 and invited local providers and volunteers to attend. The one-day summit (8:30 a.m.–3 p.m.) will feature local and national presenters and offered continuing-education credits and scholarships to reduce cost barriers.

"We're holding a youth resilience summit right here in Asheville, March 18," Allegretto said, adding that scholarships were available to ensure cost is not a barrier to attendance.

Separately, an attorney thanked Fatima, a DJJ court counselor, for organizing a community-led effort to replenish reading materials at Alexander Detention Center. The group is working with Firestorm Books to collect paperback middle-grade and young-adult titles; volunteers discussed logistic details such as paperback-only donations, avoiding inappropriate content, and coordinating drop-off to minimize staff burden.

Council members recommended channels for outreach (including translated short videos and community social channels) and noted the importance of pre-screening donations so staff are not overwhelmed by unsuitable materials.

Next steps: Allegretto will provide digital materials and scholarship instructions to JCPC staff; volunteers will coordinate collections and contact the DJJ court counselor for delivery details.