Transit Arts brought Kendrell Mills up. Now he's one of its leaders.

Franklin County Board of Commissioners I Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services 

When Kendrell Mills walked into Central Community House at age 10, he was a kid in an after-school program. On June 30, he stood at the podium of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and delivered an original poem. 

Between those two moments: Transit Arts. 

The Board voted unanimously June 30 to approve Resolution 447-26, a $143,999.63 subaward agreement with the Central Community House of Columbus, renewing Franklin County's investment in the Transit Arts Youth Engagement and Employment Program through the Department of Job and Family Services. 

Transit Arts serves 80 youth and young adults ages 12 to 21 through year-round weekly work groups focused on social-emotional learning, skills development, mentor pairing, and creative expression. The program also hosts monthly events centered on violence disruption and provides a structured creative space for young people navigating isolation and injustice. Participants are compensated for their work. 

Kendrell found Transit Arts in middle school, when a Central Community House art teacher encouraged him to give it a try. He was nervous. By high school, he was asking to volunteer in the after-school program. Within months, he was hired as a Program Helper. He kept showing up to Transit Arts Thursday sessions. That consistency led, eventually, to his current role as Program Coordinator. 

At the June 30 session, he read his poem, "Peering Through the Glass," a reflection on years spent searching for his own passion while watching others find theirs. The poem ends with a spark, a pencil, and a window that no longer holds him back. 

"From a young participant in an after-school program to an artist, leader, and mentor," said Tamar M. Forrest, Ph.D, Executive Director of Central Community House, who introduced him to the room. 

Board President John O'Grady spoke to what it takes to do what Kendrell did. "When somebody does a painting and they hang it on a wall, oftentimes that's kind of easy," O'Grady said. "But when you have to stand in front of a room full of people and express not only your thoughts but your feelings and emotions, that's a little bit more." 

Commissioner Erica C. Crawley, who has followed Transit Arts since joining the Board, told Mills he represents what this investment is built to produce. She said she would not have had the courage to do what he did when she was his age. 

The subaward is administered through the Department of Job and Family Services.