July 6, 2016
Page 5
Photo by C ervante P oPe /t he P ortland o bserver
Mayor Charlie Hales, Commissioner Amanda Fritz and officials from Portland Parks and Recreation join youth from iUrban Teen at the Matt Dishman Community Center to
launch a cellphone app to enable youth to easily access information about free summer programs.
Teens Create App for Summer Activities
with a specific focus on African
American, Native American and
Latino demographics. A group of
iUrban teens with worked with
Cigna on the functionality and
app design of “I Am A #ForceOf”
to further ensure its receptiveness
for its targeted audience.
by C ervante P oPe
“iUrban Teen and our incredi-
t he P ortland o bserver
ble volunteers are helping to close
With summer here, a new cell- the digital divide and get under-
phone app for teens is making ac- represented groups involved in
cessing information to free recre-
ational activities much easier.
A collaborative effort between
Mayor Charlie Hales, iUrban
Teen, Portland Parks and Recre-
ation and the development team
Cigna, has led to the development
of the “I Am A #ForceOf” app
which uses technology to inform
young people on what free pro-
grams and services are available
through Portland’s community
and recreation centers and on
TriMet.
The idea is to promote safe and
productive activities as an alter-
native to gangs and other less pro-
ductive pursuits this summer and
comes as part of Mayor Hales’
Community Centers Initiative, a
$2 million effort to provide free
programs geared to young peo-
ple. In its first year, 12,000 kids
had free access to teen program-
ming and recreational community
center events.
“This project was Portland at
its best: built for teens, by teens,
with city and community sup-
port,” Mayor Hales said at the
app’s soft launch last Thursday
at the Matt Dishman Community
Center in Northeast.
iUrban Teen is a nationally
recognized program that connects
marginalized groups of youths
age 13-18 with hands-on educa-
tional based career opportunities,
“I Am A
#ForceOf” gives
youth good
alternatives
tech,” Mayor Hales said.
Gabriel Coleman, a 15-year-
old iUrban teen who primarily
worked on the design of the app,
gave a demonstration of the app’s
different facets.
“It was extremely fun and I
loved every part of it,” says Cole-
man. “I could see myself doing
tech and app design in the fu-
ture.”
The app is now past its beta
stage but isn’t commercially
available to download. Both the
Android and Apple app stores
are reviewing the app for con-
sideration and the city plans to
officially announce when the
app will be available. Until
then, the app can be accessed
via browser at teenforce.meteo-
rapp.com.
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