Kids and Neighbors Organizing for Change in Kent

 Welcome to KNOCK! Chestertown

 Building Community Anew

Toward the end of 2024, we knocked on over 1,000 doors and had more than 270 one-on-one conversations with residents across Chestertown and surrounding areas. We’ve asked folks a simple but powerful question:

“What would make Kent County the best place to be a kid?”

In the months that followed, we gathered at Christ First Methodist Church to keep the conversation going—six times in total. We looked at what we heard, prepared by students at Washington College who had read and analyzed the notes from those first conversations. At our first session, the community chose three top priorities to focus on: Education, Economic Stability, and Housing.

Together, we’ve worked to name what’s not working, lift up what’s possible, and begin shaping goals that reflect the community’s own voice and values. From ideas like Parent Involvement and Engagement and Bridging Culture and Language, to priorities like Youth Skills Development, Safe and Supportive School Climates, Housing Affordability and Assistance, and Jobs and Access to Them, the vision took shape—block by block, conversation by conversation.

This work is part of building a new agenda and plan, a community-led roadmap that will guide how resources are invested and programs are created on behalf of children, youth, and families. The Agenda is being developed in partnership with the Kent County Local Management Board, the county entity responsible for coordinating services for families and young people across our region and is made possible by Governor Moore's ENOUGH Act to end concentrated child poverty and by the Children's Cabinet Interagecy Fund.

We invite you to explore the conversations, add your voice, and help us build a Kent County that is the best place to be a kid.

Share your contact info if you would like to learn more or get involved: