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Local advocates ask Durham County for $25,000 in youth-program funding and promote preparedness week
Summary
During citizen comments at the June 2 work session, two speakers urged the board to support local initiatives: James Chavis promoted a countywide preparedness week and DeWarn Langley, representing the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation, requested $25,000 to support programs for boys and young men of color and additional funding for My Brother's Keeper.
James Chavis used his public-comment slot to promote a community preparedness week he said has been organized for late June and to invite commissioners to a press conference on June 11.
"The 7 day period from Saturday, 06/28/2025 to Friday, 07/04/2025 has been cleared to Durham County government," Chavis said, and he urged commissioners and residents to participate in demonstrations and outreach across city, county and school board jurisdictions.
DeWarn Langley, appearing virtually and identifying himself as a representative of the Charles Hamilton Houston Foundation, asked the board to allocate $25,000 in the county budget to support the organization's programs and to bolster the My Brother's Keeper initiative.
"We need $25,000 in this budget, and it only takes 3 votes," Langley said, linking his funding request to broader aims of reducing juvenile crime and improving educational and employment outcomes for young men of color. He emphasized that the investment would be used for operational activities rather than salaries and argued the county already incurs costs through detention and other downstream expenses.
The vice chair acknowledged the requests and said the board would take them under advisement; no formal budget action was recorded during the session.
