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For its founder, YNTO’s after-school program is a dream fulfilled

Taquan Jones is the founder of Youth Navigating Toward Opportunity (YNTO), a nonprofit that provides  after-school programming for over 40 low-income kids from Pamlico County.

Taquan Jones and his wife, Megan, start their day at 6 a.m., getting their five kids, ranging from a 7-month-old to a 15-year-old, ready for school before he tends to his lawn care business. Three hours later, his shirt is covered in sweat and yard debris as he packs up his lawn equipment and heads to his nonprofit in Bayboro. This is where his true work begins.

Jones is the founder of Youth Navigating Toward Opportunity (YNTO), a nonprofit that provides  after-school programming for over 40 low-income kids from Pamlico County.

YNTO started out as Jones’s senior project during high school, years before it became an official  program in 2020.

Jones started his day at the nonprofit on a recent Wednesday by cleaning, cooking and preparing for upcoming festivities.

“Building a children's program was a dream, something I always wanted to do, but didn’t know I was going to get enough traction to make it feasible,” Jones said in an interview with Down in the County while he grilled burgers for YNTO participants.

“Growing up, I had a father addicted to drugs. My mother tried her best, working and trying to take care of four kids,” said Jones, who was born and raised in the county. “At a young age, because of the way my father is, I felt like I needed to grow up fast and try to take some of the  load off my mother and earn my own money. … I didn’t really feel like I had many options.”

Kids of YNTO ask for their portrait to be taken. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Taquan Jones, the founder and president of YNTO, a nonprofit that provides after-school programming for over 40 low-income kids from Pamlico County, instructs an exercise dedicated to trivia questions and physical health. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Before YNTO was officially founded, Jones wrote a business plan to ensure the success of the organization. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

As a child, Jones didn’t think he could turn to anyone for help without them judging him and his circumstances, he said.

Mackenzie Berry holds the door for Isaac Nanney as they enter YNTO’s building. The kids usually spend three hours daily with YNTO. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

When he shares his story with the kids at YNTO, Jones said, it resonates. “They know if I’ve been there, then I can’t judge them. That means a lot to kids,” he said.

Johnnie Barber III, who had been with YNTO before it was an official organization, lost the mother of his son three years ago. He was a single father for two years after her death, until he met his current girlfriend a year ago.

YNTO “made a big impact for me and my son,” he said.

Barber’s son, Johnnie Barber IV, loves to train for basketball and spends hours doing just that at YNTO.

“When I was working a lot, I couldn’t give him that one-to-one access as a parent,” Barber said as he expressed his gratitude for YNTO helping him fulfill that time.

Barber said he stays informed and connected through the YNTO parent group chat. “It’s really a community and that’s why I love it,” he said.

The broad range of activities includes robotics, sports, building Legos, homework, photography, drawing, taekwondo and pottery.

The student participants have their own favorites. Azyaha Miller, 12, and Angel Garner, 14, who has been with YNTO since it started, said their favorite activities are watching East Carolina University basketball games and “praise dancing,” which is dancing for God. Aryeh Frazier, 5, said his favorite thing is playing football. The kids usually spend three hours daily with YNTO.

Playing basketball is a favorite at YNTO. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

After cleaning, Jones prepares food for the kids of YNTO. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Most of the kids of YNTO grew up together in the organization. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Lakesha Jones, a volunteer and family member of Jones, plays with his youngest kid, 7-month- old, Ti’arii Jones. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Photographs from YNTO’s Snapshots photography group hangs on the walls of their space. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

With the programming, “I try to focus on showing them different paths that they necessarily never thought about,” Jones said.

With most of his days dedicated to YNTO, Jones, who receives a monthly paycheck of $750, said “from the outside looking in, people may believe that this generates money for me.” Although grateful for the funds received, Jones has been spending his check to buy food for YNTO, which is funded in large part by grants and donations. The organization is fully run by volunteers.

“Every day, I still have to go out and figure out how to make money for my family and still do this,” Jones said.  He credits his wife and his siblings for helping him build and sustain the organization. He also appreciates the contributions of YNTO's board members, donors and supporters, such as the YNTO building owner, who rents the space to the organization at a discount.

Jones said he would gladly welcome more volunteers. “It’s a family-run organization, but we are definitely not trying to keep it a family-run organization,” he said.

Jones wants YNTO to grow so it can support more children from the community. The school system allows Jones, who has only one van, to make one trip to the school to pick up elementary students and then another trip to pick up middle schoolers. He hopes to be able to buy another van in the future.

A kid from YNTO poses for the camera. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

YNTO has inspirational quotes from different cultural icons hanging up around the building. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

At the end of the day, Jones does basketball exercises with the kids. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Johnnie Barber III and his son Johnnie Barber IV interact with another kid of YNTO. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Growing the program would help YNTO serve as a model for other communities, Jones said.

“A lot of small towns miss out on different things,” he said. Jones also hopes to be able to “scale this to a point where we can show other people in small towns.”

Building a community center, which would open it up to more kids, programming and places to exercise, is Jones’ ultimate dream. “When there isn’t much to do, kids tend to get in trouble,” he said.

When asked what it would have meant to have a program like YNTO during his own childhood, Jones, who had just finished flipping a burger, immediately dropped his spatula and said, “Everything.”

The program provides “a secondary structure outside your home life,” he said.

Jones arrives at YNTO after picking up the younger kids in the program from school. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Alberto Miller, left, and Ti’ana Jones, right, wait for their arrival at YNTO's building in Bayboro, NC. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Isaac Nanney, right, gets Elijah Bird from the van after the kids arrive at YNTO from school. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

Jones, who ends his day at 7:30 pm when he cleans, makes sure all of the kids are picked up by their parents and goes home to be a father, has a simple goal for the kids in the program. “I just want them to be successful,” he said.

Jones’ email address: [email protected]

Jones cleans YNTO for the day. (Photo by Eleazar Yisrael)

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