On Tuesday, August 17, 2021, Haywood County was significantly impacted by flooding during Tropical Storm Fred.  People within our community have suffered tremendous personal loss to property, livestock, vehicles, and even the loss of six loved ones.  The Youth Stepping FOURward Program will be designed to help youth participants become emerging leaders in Haywood County.

Youth participants will identify community issues and utilize their creative problem-solving skills to create recommendations to these issues that will be shared with town alderman and county commissioners.  Youth will also complete environmental service-learning projects.

As part of the Haywood 4-H Youth Stepping FOURward, youth will assist with stream monitoring across the county.  These reports will help inform community residents, local leaders, and potential grantors of existing bacteria, sediment, and dangers within streams and rivers.  And as part of the flood damage, there is lots of debris in the water that impacts water quality and youth will have pick-up events to help remove debris.