I don't know if it's an original idea, but I spend a lot of time in the non-profit world. They build programs that structure children's time in all these constructive ways - learning, building, educating - all stuff that's really mentally intensive and educational. But most at risk youth seem to have a time problem where they just need something to do. I'm of the opinion that if you just have programs where people work and work and work they are going to eventually get tired. My idea is to make a lan bar. Most people pay for membership but every membership pays for yourself and someone else who otherwise couldn't afford it. This kind of plays into two ideas - the first is the time thing, finding a way to just eat up the time of at risk youths to keep them off the street, and the other being a way of creating a space where folks from different classes and of different races come together under a shared hobby. I don't know if it would work, but it would be fun.
Capital and connections. I'm working with a few non-profits to try to get the idea in places, but none are really willing to front the costs for the computers and games. I also need to find a "cosmopolitan" area that rides the line between a lower level affluent area and a higher level at risk area. There are a lot of moving parts, but I'm hoping to fill in the gaps.