One issue facing many cities throughout the United States is the lack of opportunity for low income regions. Without focused change, these areas tend to get caught up in social and economic cycles that perpetuate the same disadvantages. Of course, there is no one solution that can fix decades worth of problems. The encouragement of innovation, however, helps to address multiple issues with a wider brushstroke by focusing not on the issue, but rather on the person.

The reason encouraging innovation has such a profound effect on low income areas is because it promotes both behavioral and economic change, and it starts with the younger population. Providing extracurricular opportunities that motivate children and young adults to innovate and think critically will produce better results down the road. Emerging concepts like maker spaces and collaborative work spaces are new opportunities for after school programs that can create unique alternatives to nonproductive or negative options for students.

A maker space is a collaborative work space inside a school, library, or separate public/private facility for making, learning, exploring, and sharing that may use everything from “high tech” to “no tech” tools.  These spaces could have a variety of maker equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, soldering irons, or even sewing machines. At first glance, it might seem difficult to fund a project with such high-level machinery, but there are already plenty of small businesses and nonprofits across the country allocating resources towards these spaces.

The driving idea behind maker spaces and collective work spaces is one of equality and inclusion. They seek to level the playing field regardless of income or background. The education and community mentorship that children and young adults can obtain by collaborating at a maker space is invaluable. Participants are encouraged to try everything and see what suits them best.

At the base level, any new after school opportunity for students is one more way to prevent youth from falling into familiar, yet potentially detrimental habits and routines. We’ve seen enormous success throughout the years in this regard by way sports programs and other extracurricular clubs. Simply providing a way for children and young adults to occupy their time in a productive manner can have wondrous effects – doing so in a way that encourages innovation only serves to amplify the creation of positive change.

These spaces also provide safe and nurturing structure for children and young adults. In a similar way that organizations like YMCA and Boys and Girls Club have worked to create a sense of place for youth over the years, these spaces have the same power to organize groups of young people who may not have come together otherwise. By encouraging diversity and collaboration, these spaces create real change by instilling values like hard work and cooperation to achieve a common goal.

What’s more, children and young adults who work together to create something out of nothing are filled with a sense of purpose. They are instilled with the exciting notion that innovation (in any sense) can be both productive and enjoyable for themselves and those around them. This is the type of thinking that will later lead to entrepreneurship and small business ownership. The feeling that one can make a difference without massive resources is the key to creating change in low income areas through innovation.

This entrepreneurial spirit is what helps to create jobs in low income areas. More importantly, these opportunities are coming not from subsidies or individuals who aren’t aligned with the community, but from with the community itself. It’s vitally important for individuals who come from low income neighborhoods to see that it doesn’t necessarily require a college degree to be a driving force in the community – it only takes someone willing to tackle a problem using innovative solutions.