A group that has been enlisted to help jump start a five year plan of investing in the youth of Mexico has secured a $2.5 million grant to get started.

Mike Hogg with Partners for Rural Impact (PRI) met via video conference with the Mexico Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) late last month to talk about the project and what it entails. PRI has been hired by the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers’s owner Steve Ballmer and Head Coach Tyronn Lue, a native of Mexico.

During the Fourth of July weekend Lue was in Mexico and announced a plan to invest about $10 million into the community over the next five years and promised details soon. Hogg said Ballmer has worked with PRI, a Kentucky based operation, before on other rural projects and when he heard about Lue’s ideas he got the two connected. Last summer a meeting was set up in Mexico with the help of the local chamber of commerce.

“Big shout out to Dana (Keller) at the Chamber of Commerce who pulled leaders together throughout the course of the day to have a conversation about what makes Mexico a great place to grow up in and what makes it a challenging place as well,” Hogg said.

Hogg said PRI will work with the local community to come up with the plan for the city.

“This is not about PRI coming into a place and going, ‘Let’s tell you how to do things around here,’” Hogg said. “The folks in place know the answers sometimes they just need someone to ask the questions. It’s really up to the community to decide where we have gaps in services.”

Hogg said PRI’s plans are a cradle to career approach with some plans including service for prenatal care all the way up to the young person becoming an adult and finding a career. Along the way there will be benchmarks of measurement including: entering Kindergarten ready, kids show academic proficiency in reading and math and graduating high school college ready. Hogg said that doesn’t always mean a four year degree.

“We include high value certificates in that as well,” Hogg said. “The growth trajectory for a lot of folks isn’t necessarily a four year degree.”

Hogg said kids only spend about 9-11 percent of the year at school and that the burden of solving the community’s issues shouldn’t fall completely on the shoulders of the school and the “It takes a village’” approach is also needed. A big part of that success is making sure kids are living in the right mental state.

“We know that if you aren’t safe, you aren’t healthy, and you aren’t supported then it’s a struggle along that pathway so there has to be support along the way,” Hogg said.

A good way of identifying kids who are at risk is absenteeism from school. Hogg said there are legitimate reasons for missing school but kids who chronically are probably having other issues.

“When kids are not well they’re not coming to school,” Hogg said. “If the family is hurting they’re not coming to school.”

PRI has secured a Full-Service Community Grant that will invest $500,000 a year over the next five years to help administrate the project. The grant includes funds for an office and an executive director who will live in Mexico. The grant will also support a full time person who will work with the public schools that will provide support for family engagement and wrap around services for kids whose family is struggling with food insecurity or utility payments.

Hogg said when he asked for support in getting the grant the response was unlike he had ever seen.

“Usually when I make an ask for folks to send a letter of support for a grant it’ll take me a couple of weeks to get them in,” Hogg said. “It took two days. It just speaks to the community’s commitment to young people.”

Hogg said the biggest thing now is communicating and getting more people involved.

“There’s always room in a circle,” Hogg said. “You just have to take a step back and it’s twice as big as it was.”

Mexico Public Schools Superintendent Melissa Chastain said she attended a forum with PRI and came back inspired to get going to work.

“As an educator I think we feel like our job is to save kids,” Chastain said. “We try it every day but it takes the whole community. I’m excited for our community and our teachers. I think in five years we’re going to see real growth and there’s not enough thanks we can give Tyronn for caring about Mexico so much.”

Board President Todd Yager echoed the comments of Chastain.

“We all love Mexico and to see someone put this much time and effort,” Yager said. “We all know the kids are the future of this place. From the bottom of our hearts thank you for everything you are doing.”