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.
Murray-Calloway County, Kentucky
By Christopher Epps
Imagine a community where everyone is willing to help one another without asking for anything in return—a place where the community is one big family—a unit where love, respect and care are fundamental needs and not negotiable luxuries for children and adults. Enter: Murray-Calloway County, a 100 Best Communities for Young People winner in 2005 and 2007.
This rural community in southwestern Kentucky, united and culturally augmented by having an acclaimed public university in its midst, is reaping the rewards of including its children in all that it does. Its schools enjoy healthy graduation rates, high achievement test scores, and a wealth of support groups to ensure that those groups that need help receive help. Believing that what can't be done in the home can be done through education and community, groups such as Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Lunch Buddies, pairing high school students as mentors to their elementary school counterparts, and You're Not in This Alone, for parents grappling with student problems, offer a safety net of support and advice.
Young people in this community have several Opportunities to Help Others while they learn the power of civic engagement. In fact, youth leaders from both county school districts recently spearheaded an effort to pass a Clean Air Act in the community, not a simple thing to do in the heart of “tobacco country.”
Residents of Murray-Calloway County recognize that transition for today’s youth is no easy task. In order to help secondary students, grades six through 12, better focus their coursework when preparing for postsecondary studies or careers, the county’s schools participate in individual learning plans. Beginning in the sixth grade, students explore careers that match their skills and interests which result in an education plan that establishes personal goals, creating or updating a resume, strategic planning of extracurricular activities/professional organizations and the exploration of postsecondary opportunities that match life goals whether it be college or the workforce.
Among many youth-centered programs and initiatives, a few that led Murray-Calloway County to earn recognition twice as a 100 Best Community are:
Community Education Advisory Council
comprises parents, businesses, churches and representatives from education, government and family resource centers, among others. The council extends a promise to the youth that someone is listening. Ideas for youth activities and events are born at council meetings and are aided by passionate citizens whom donate time and finances.
Fit Youth Team
focuses on healthy living, fitness and nutrition for youth people with a primary concentration on obesity. Partners include schools, the business and health communities, and representatives from higher education offices. The team’s successes include getting milk machines in school, changing school food reward policies and creating a summer events calendar.
Need Line
, a nonprofit social service agency on behalf of the community, churches and local government, provides short-term emergency aid for young people and their families. Financial assistance is provided to cover utility and medical expenses. In addition, nutritional information, money management classes, and community information such as the Quick Reference Directory for Services in Calloway County are offered.
Because financial support is a necessity of sustainability to the life of all organizations, although Calloway County does not have a grant makers association, one local coalition has become a forum for ideas and funding surrounding the youth and substance abuse. The Calloway County Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention (CCASAP) Coalition meets monthly to focus on the efforts completed by its 55 community partners. The coalition also tracks the funding and funding sources used to complete the strategic plans of its collaborators. CCASAP’s mandate is to oversee the implementation of a strategic plan with community involvement and build capacity for the community.