The Keys to Helping Youth Succeed

To help the future generations succeed, the community must come together to break down barriers and build up futures.

That was the theme of last week's alliance meeting for the 100 Families Initiative in Garland County. Coordinator Sarah Stapleton moderated the discussion, asking essential questions to three community figures who deal with child welfare on a regular basis.

One of these figures is Dennis Berry, longtime board member for The CALL in Garland & Hot Spring Counties. Berry took a parental approach when addressing the biggest hurdles preventing young people from reaching their full potential.

"I think the biggest barrier, quite honestly, are the parents and the families of the kids," Berry said. "We need more help with those parents that can show what a family is supposed to be, how a family can be productive, how a family can be cohesive, how support can work to make those kids more successful at school."

Berry also mentioned other factors that might play a role in these hardships, like poverty, trauma, and lack of support, emphasizing the crucial role of mentorship and resources in overcoming these challenges and building confidence.

"There's a lot of trauma that comes out of that (trauma). There's a lot of food insecurity that comes out of that. A lot of lack of self-confidence that comes from that background," Berry said. "We've had kids a year, a year and a half, and they will still tell you they don't know where their next meal's gonna come from."

Elevate Hot Springs executive director Gina Rockwell echoed Berry's comments, saying that these barriers all trace back to the family.

"No matter how much we put into it, it all goes back to mentorship and, and parents and family," Rockwell said. "I think a lot of it, like you said, is just, not having the resources or not knowing where to find the resources of how to recover from those types of things."

With Elevate Hot Springs, Rockwell touches the lives of Garland County youth on a daily basis, giving them a safe space to belong, grow, and simply be heard. She realized the students she mentors needed more than just program support, so she started looping in parental support into a family initiative grant.

"When I first got to Elevate, I realized we were pouring into those students. We were giving them everything we had, but then when they got home, nothing," Rockwell said. "We've already started bringing in the families."

Sometimes, building trust starts in the school. Ricky Huffman, chief of police for Lake Hamilton School District (LHSD), knows about fostering bonds with students because he witnesses their adversities every day, both in and out of the classroom.

"They know that we're not there to hurt them, and so they will come up to us and sit down and talk to us more, and that's how we find out a lot of stuff, like what's going on with them at home," Huffman said. "We build those relationships because they know we're not there to hurt them."

As a coach on Lake Hamilton's fishing team, Huffman highlighted the importance of extracurricular activities and the weight they place on students' lives.

"I think that's one of the best things that kids can do is get involved in an activity, or a sport, beccause you get confident," Huffman said. "It gets them involved in something, and so there are so many opportunities, if they would just take advantage of it."

Rockwell and Berry also weighed in on extracurricular activities, praising the idea of getting involved with not only sports, but any inclusive activities in general, praising programs like drama clubs and ROTC.

"Those activities where they can be inclusive of something are just so impactful for those kids," Berry said.

Shaping a bright future for today's youth is vital to a thriving community. It's community leaders like Berry, Rockwell and Huffman that remind us that consistent presence is key to building trust and support for those who need it most.