Photo By Janecze Wright | Teens make their way Aug. 21, 2023, into the Comanche Youth Center after drop-off by...... read more read more
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Child & Youth Services is doing its part to help transport students to their respective youth centers here.
The Fort Cavazos Teen Taxi is an after-school pick-up service which transports students weekdays to designated Fort Cavazos Youth Centers.
The service offers after school transportation from all middle and high schools in Killeen and Copperas Cove Independent School Districts, to the respective CYS Youth Center at no cost to patrons.
“In order for us to reach as many teens as we can across post and get them where they need to be, we offer a service that brings them all back to our centers,” said Melanie Mahoney, facility director at Comanche Youth Center.
Mahoney explained that although the program has been in use for 15 years, it’s vital to let Soldiers and military families know the service is available.
“It’s really important especially on an installation as big as this,” she said. “Not every family lives in the vicinity of the center that their kid is serviced at, so in order for them to have a smooth transition to them up and go home, it’s important for us to get the teens where they need to go all across post.”
Teen Taxi transports to High Chaparral, Bronco, Comanche and Montague Youth Centers.
Each center is responsible for transporting students from specific schools.
Students from Palo Alto, Manor, Nolan, Eastern Hills and Union Grove Middle Schools, and Ellison and Harker Heights High Schools are transported to High Chaparral YC.
Charles Patterson, Rancier, Live Oak Ridge and Liberty Hill Middle Schools, and Killeen and Chaparral High Schools transport students to Bronco YC.
Students from Shoemaker and Early College High Schools and Smith and Audie Murphy Middle Schools are taken to Comanche YC.
Copperas Cove and SC Lee Junior High and Copperas Cove High School students go to Montague YC.
“Teens are one the most forgotten demographics usually on post because they don’t have to come to a center like this,” Mahoney noted. “But we’re here for at risk youth and we provide a safe environment.”
The program not only provides an invaluable service and a safe environment for teens, it also helps to maintain a ready force.
“The Soldiers are able to focus on their mission knowing that we’re caring for their teenagers and we’re getting them where they need to go and providing that safe place and safe transportation, so parents know exactly where they’re at all times,” Mahoney said.
“It makes it a streamlined process for our military families in order to pick them up,” she continued. “And we do our part to make sure that we’re part of that process in partnership with our families across post.”
Mahoney emphasized the importance of standing in the gap for military families.
“We’re open every day until eight o’clock at night for them,” she said. “So, it gets that level of stress off parents that their teenager can be picked up last. It’s important for us to kind of lighten the load on mom and dad.
“It’s amazing for a post as big as this to offer this service,” Mahoney added. “There’s a lot of other posts nationwide that maybe have one or two buses and they struggle with transportation. I think we do it really well here at Fort Cavazos to service our community.”
| Date Taken: | 08.24.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2023 14:26 |
| Story ID: | 454412 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 71 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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