Several community members will host a teen male summit in Poplarville on Saturday, July 18 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in an effort to mentor young men in the community.

Marcus Jordan, former football coach at Poplarville and Pearl River Central high schools, decided to bring county officials together to provide an open forum where these young men’s voices can be heard.

“I hadn’t seen anything in the area, we coach and we always have our influence with these kids in school but outside of school a lot of them don’t have anywhere to go for guidance,” Jordan said.

The summit will be hosted by Poplarville Mayor Brad Necaise, District I Supervisor Anthony Hales, Leroy “Coach Fred” Frederick, Minister Marcus Houston, Poplarville Police Capt. Rossie Creel and Jordan.

Each speaker will touch on numerous topics, including career advice, college readiness and religious values followed by a question and answer session.

Hales said the summit will try to encourage young men to be outstanding citizens in their community.

“These younger men need to realize how important it is to be good men for the stabilization of a community and that’s what this summit will try to do,” Hales said.

This is the first time the summit is being hosted in Poplarville, Jordan said.

“We don’t often hear these young men’s voices so we want to hear what’s going on with them and feed off of what they have to say,” Jordan said.

Young men from ages 13 to 18 in Poplarville and surrounding areas are welcome to attend the free event, which will be held at the Raine Street Center in Poplarville. Breakfast snacks will be provided.

Jordan said he plans to provide a summit for young women in the future.