Children enrolled in the Gifford Youth Achievement Center summer camp were welcomed with a rousing reception last Friday morning, making their way through a human Tunnel of Hope, formed by community leaders, fire and law enforcement officials and members of youth and community organizations as part of a recently adopted Kids at Hope initiative.
The Kids at Hope concept was introduced to our area by the Executive Roundtable of Indian River County, whose mission is to “identify solutions that will protect and enhance the lives of Indian River County children, individuals, families and seniors.”
Kids at Hope began in Phoenix, AZ, in 1993, with the recognition that society was unwittingly stereotyping some children with the potentially devaluing term “at risk.” A simple change to “at hope” can encourage a belief in all children, without exception.
“We want the kids to learn that there are people in the community who care about them and want to see them succeed,” said Aimee McPartlan, Roundtable executive director. “We want the whole community to believe that every kid can succeed. It’s really just a shift in the way adults think about children.”
“Kids at Hope is not a program. We realize in today’s society, a lot of programs don’t work. Kids at Hope is a paradigm shift. It’s a belief system that we have adopted that says we believe that all children – and we mean ALL children – are capable of success; no exceptions,” explained Gregory Simpson, GYAC Activities and Events Coordinator, addressing the crowd that came out to cheer on the children.
“And we as adults have the responsibility to be Treasure Hunters. As Treasure Hunters, it is our job to search for all the skills, talents and intelligence buried within every child that we encounter. And as a community, we must believe that we accept and set up an environment where all children are capable of success – no exceptions. All our children are kids of promise, kids of hope. As adults, we need to tell them, ‘You are special, we believe in you, we believe in your success; and we believe in your having a bright, healthy future.’”
Charging the adults with their role in the morning’s activities, Simpson told them, “We want to give these children an opportunity so that when they leave here today, they will always have this memory; that they had a group of adults, police officers, firefighters, commissioners at the round table, religious leaders that said, ‘Listen, we believe in you and love you no matter what, and you are going to have a destination of success.’”
Beaming with excitement, roughly 70 children made their way along the Tunnel of Hope, receiving plenty of high-fives and enthusiastic words of encouragement.
The Executive Round Table of IRC, made up of leaders in government, law enforcement, business and nonprofits, has adopted Kids at Hope as its first major initiative.
“Our goal is to identify the solution and then help implement it,” explained County Commissioner Peter O’Bryan, who chairs the Roundtable. Noting that the county provided funding for training materials for GYAC and Dodgertown Elementary, which will be the first school to roll it out, he added, “We’re not going to run it ourselves. We’re there to support and promote.”
