Do your kids have that one friend that’s always at your house? They eat your food, sleep over on the weekends, tag along to family functions and just always seem to be “there?” It’s pretty easy to be annoyed. But guess what? Chances are that youth is not just hanging around for the free food or because he or she thinks your kids are cool. They hang around because of YOU; you are playing an important role in their life. That kid at your house, they are there because they know you care about them.
Having a connection with a caring adult is one of the most critical components of raising happy, healthy and resilient children. Caring adult relationships promote motivation in school, lower rates of drug and alcohol abuse, reduce contact with the justice system, lower suicide rates and promote better overall mental health. Youth with one or more caring adult relationships are much more likely to grow into productive adults.
It would be amazing if every child had a caring positive relationship with an adult right in their own home. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Even if a child has a positive caring relationship at home, multiple caring adult relationships and relationships with adults outside their household only increase a child’s potential for future success. In 2018, 74 percent of students in Weld County reported that they had an adult to confide in. That’s 15 percent less than students nationally. The isolation caused by the recent COVID-19 pandemic has likely had a serious negative effect on these numbers. As a community, we absolutely have the responsibility to do better. The good news is that we can, and we’re off to a great start thanks to investments made by United Way of Weld County and other local youth serving organizations.
As part of a wider collective impact process, United Way’s Thrive by 25 initiative has chosen as its primary focus to develop and implement plans and programs to increase the number of youth who have one or more caring adult relationships. The work will be completed by leveraging the knowledge and resources of existing local organizations. Thanks to organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs of Weld County, Soccer Without Borders, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Partners Mentoring Youth and others, great progress is already being made. Work is being done in the areas of capacity building, community education and referrals/shared assessment to create a diverse and intentional direction. These organizations are working together to develop concrete strategies, share resources, develop shared measurement tools and create a common vision for success.
Through these collective efforts, the goal is to significantly reduce the number of youth in Weld County who are lacking that adult connection over the next few years. Measurement tools are being developed to track progress and help steer the efforts.
While the organizations involved provide experience and resources, the work is heavy and the help of the entire Weld County community is needed. You can help. Feed the kid next door, coach a local baseball team, buy all the Girl Scout cookies, or better yet get involved with some of the amazing local nonprofits working on this worthwhile cause through connecting with United Way and finding out about our Thrive by 25 efforts. Not only will you help the youth in our community, you’ll likely find the work pretty rewarding. For more information on the Thrive by 25 initiative, contact Melanie Woolman at mwoolman@unitedway-weld.org or (970) 304-6167.
Clint Dudley is the executive director for the Thompson Rivers Parks & Recreation District in the Johnstown/Milliken area. He will soon become a member of the United Way of Weld County board of directors.
