Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Keeping Kids Out of the River

New Youth Focus Emerges from Summit

Story by Kathleen McFadden

Last June’s first Watauga County Summit on Youth was a bit of a fishing operation. The organizers felt strongly that a number of youth-related issues were unaddressed, and the focus of that summit was on figuring out exactly what should be on the short list—and the long list—of youth concerns and priorities.

That fishing operation caught its first real keeper at the follow-up summit held on April 29. A concrete goal emerged at that meeting—a paradigm for looking at youth issues in a holistic and strategic way.

According to organizer Nancy Reigel, several pieces of the paradigm are already in place, including funding, service providers and community involvement. What’s missing, and what the Youth Summit organizers are looking to establish, is a connector that unifies all three elements.

At the summit, Libby Kelligrew, director of Community of Advocates Council for Children’s Rights in Charlotte, explained the need for a connector with a parable. A group of people gathered on a riverbank frantically pull child after child out of the river, getting some but missing others. Finally comes the suggestion that someone go upstream to find out why so many kids are falling into the river.

The connector in the paradigm is the person who goes upstream.

“Again and again I see in my work in Washington, D.C. that rarely does anyone get above the 30,000 foot level and look at the system,” explained facilitator and Youth Summit organizer Ron Redmon. “The purpose of this initiative is to get above and to create a connection, to identify what’s missing from the system that’s allowing this to happen.”

Reigel said that the Council for Children’s Rights is gathering data to determine if the connector function exists in Charlotte, to evaluate how it works, to determine if it makes a difference and to identify its funding.

Reigel, Redmon and the participants at this month’s summit want to participate in this novel way of looking at youth issues. “If we get two to four communities thinking like that,” Reigel said, “then we go to a regional structure. From there, we can influence the state structure.”

Reigel continued, “The idea of a connector gave everyone [at the summit] so much hope on the provider side. Everyone’s so tired of pulling kids out of the river.”

She acknowledged that implementing the initiative would require investment, energy and strategic thinking, “But what’s the alternative?” she asked.

The new focus, Redmon said, is “new work for the summit. Now it has legs, a reason to be.”