Highlighting America’s 100 Best Communities for Young People
The 100 Best Communities for Young People competition honors outstanding efforts on behalf of young people by multiple sectors of communities. In cities, suburbs, small towns and counties across the country, this annual competition is leading communities to assess their efforts, work more effectively together for young people, and share best practices. Each week one of the 2007 100 Best Communities will be highlighted in the America’s Promise Bulletin and on our web site.
Boise, Idaho
By Christopher Epps
Quaintly nestled against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, this capital city, the largest in Idaho, seems to have it all—deserts, mountains, rivers and lakes. Boise offers its children a natural paradise in which to grow.
Currently, the Boise community is home to more than 170 formal, ongoing after-school programs in addition to a number of school district-based extracurricular activities for young people. Boise has a longstanding priority to provide Safe Places for youth including parks, hundreds of acres of open space, fishing ponds, miles of trails, two ice skating rinks, neighborhood centers and a community center, among many others.
In addition, the Boise Family YMCA takes great advantage of small group partnerships through the use of 14 church spaces to provide daycare services in high-need neighborhoods throughout the city.
Today, the city partners with a state agency, offering grants for youth-led programs focusing on substance abuse and violence prevention. Additionally, the city appoints kids aged 15-18 to serve on city boards and commissions where they help determine resolutions and make funding recommendations.
Boise’s children are taught they too can make a difference. Boise Kids, the youth-specific page of the city’s web site, offers grants to young activists to encourage participation in eco-friendly projects. “You are creative, you care about the environment, and you want to improve your community,” it reads. “We want to help.”
Outside of the local United Way [Treasure Valley] providing extensive one-on-one technical assistance around best practices, mentoring, evaluation and marketing to the majority of youth service organizations in the community, other Boise initiatives that led to its selection as a 100 Best community include:
The Coalition for Youth Sport was created in April 2003 to ensure youth sports are the most fun for kids by addressing unconventional, yet positive spectator behavior through outreach and training. More than 1,500 youth and their parents have received the training designed by the Coalition. The World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame has even partnered with the Coalition to include a local “Youth Sports Hero” award in their annual induction ceremony.
Life's Kitchen is an innovative approach to engaging youth in learning marketable skills. Life's Kitchen is dedicated to transforming the lives of young adults by building self-sufficiency and independent living through training and placement in the food service industry. Since its inception, 91 graduates are employed with 28 earning more than minimum wage.
The Youth Police Relations Task Force was created in 2004 following the death of a Boise teen by a police officer. Engaging the city and teen leaders, the task force initiated a dialogue among teens and law enforcement representatives. Results of the task force includes student input on the placement of school resource officers, school-specific youth police relations councils and community events involving officers and youth interacting in a pro-social setting.