Ok, so this is probably not a great idea but let's see what happens, shall we?
Monday brings a new day to the Silver City Teen Center in Taunton Massachusetts. We will be hosting 52 of Taunton's teens in a Summer Youth Works program that is based on a "learn & serve" format. The teens will be broken into small groups to take on specific assignments from rehabbing the gym by drasticaly changing the appearance of the drab, grey concrete walls with a very bold deep purple! Purple is the color we use for violence prevention.
Another group will begin designing and planting a "Victory Garden" and learn about healthy skin care (UV rays abound), being self-sustaining in this horrific economy, math, ecology...we also have a "Clerical" group that will organize our documents and also create an informational "Resource Library." The seven week project will wrap up with refinishing the basketball court, general cleanup & flowers for beautification. On August 29th, the Summer Work teens and the SCTC teen members and their families will all be invited to a "Block Party" end of summer celebration at the teen center.
So, you ask, how is this connected to public participation? The SCTC 's very existence is the direct result of a community mobilizing to stand up against gangs, youth violence and underage drinking/substance abuse in late spring of 2008. Our teens asked for a safe haven, a place to hang out away from any threats to their well-being. Most people said it couldn't be done, but we did it thanks to collaboration and cooperation within the entire community. It's not easy, make no mistake, but if not us...then who?
Due to major budgets cuts at the federal and state levels, countless programs to support safety, health & wellness within our communities has been wiped out. We can sit around and feel badly or we can come together and seek out alternative solutions. We discovered we have huge gaps in public awareness related to suicide and suicide prevention, yet we have extremely high numbers of suicide attempts in our locale. There is little or no funding right now to help raise awareness (and save lives!), so as a community we must again mobilize to fill the gaps.
Interested in joining our peaceful revolution??? Touch base...post...let's raise the volume because we can do this, we can make our communities safer, healthier & well for ourselves and our future - the children.
Peace Rocks!
Related article from the Taunton Daily Gazette:
http://www.tauntongazette.com/homepage/x1885873517/Local-activist-lands-spot-on-governor-s-task-force
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