Unite for Youth aims to fill critical role

When Unite for Youth began as a nonprofit organization in 2008, Lincoln County was ranked No. 1 in Montana, and Montana was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Those rankings were for the county and state with the most youth alcohol abuse.

Unite for Youth started with a grant from Montana Community Change project and helped improve Lincoln County’s standing by lowering its state ranking to No.17 in underage drinking. The grant provided three years of policy-based funding.

The organization then applied for a Drug Free Communities grant three times and was denied each time. In this case, the fourth time was the charm and the group was granted $125,000.

The Drug Free Communities grant’s purpose is to build a community coalition to continue building a healthy environment for kids long after the grant money is gone.

Focusing on the resources that already exist in the community is a key to moving towards that goal. “Kids are the biggest resource,” said the project coordinator for Unite for Youth Maggie Anderson.

Parents also play an important part. It may be hard for some parents to believe, but kids listen to them. Anderson said 85-90 percent of youth say their parents are the biggest influence in their lives.

Other coalition partners for the program include the Sheriff’s Department, medical professionals, faith-based organizations and area schools.

One man working from inside schools as part of Unite for Youth’s partnerships is Jim May. The social studies teacher and girls basketball coach got involved because he was frustrated with students abusing alcohol and drugs and the effects it was having on them and his ability to do his job. “The people involved in the program made it easy to stay involved,” said May.

He said chemical abuse is a problem the whole community needs to address. People from all walks of life need to do a better job policing the activities of the youth. Alternatively, May said kids need opportunities to get involved in other community-sponsored events and programs.

May sees a few roadblocks to the goals of the Unite for Youth program; lack of awareness, denial and people being busy with their lives. However, he also can imagine a time when the community gets drug and alcohol issues under control and the group can change their focus to more positive change.

Sheriff Roby Bowe can’t say when drug use won’t be so prevalent for Lincoln County youth. “Patience is something we are all going to have to learn,” said Bowe. But he does point to a couple of prime examples of large-scale cultural change. “We used to smoke down here,” Bowe gestures from his office chair. “Then we had to close our doors, and then we had to go outside.” He also noted how seatbelt laws were met with some disdain when first implemented.  But when his kids were young the car wouldn’t move unless they were buckled in, now seatbelts are second nature for them.

Bowe said the Sheriff’s department role isn’t an in your face, put everybody in jail approach. “We can do our end, but we’re one little spoke of the wheel.”

Anderson said it’s important to look at the problem from a different perspective sometimes. For instance, Lincoln County has a higher than average number high school students who use alcohol on a monthly basis. That number is 32 percent for Lincoln County, compared to about 13 percent nationally. At face value that sounds negative, but Anderson says that means 68 percent don’t use alcohol.

Recently Anderson led a group of fifth and sixth grade students in a little exercise. She asked the students how many of their peers they thought used alcohol in the last month. Most guessed between 60-90 percent did. The reality was only 14 percent had.

Anderson had 86 percent of the kids stand up to represent the number who did not drink in the previous month. She saw the light go on in the children’s heads. Anderson had the children shout the mantra “Most Don’t” Louder, “Most Don’t.” That realization is powerful for young minds.

Older kids are a little more difficult to work with on drug and alcohol issues. But Unite for Youth knows it takes just a few kids to help spread their message.

The organization has a youth leadership program that focuses on building integrity and leadership. In November they had 35 kids from grades 6 to 12 take part in leadership training. The students were able to pinpoint what they saw as problems in the community and strategize for solutions.

In March, Unite for Youth will be putting on John Underwood’s Super Clinic. Underwood and some Navy SEALs will visit Libby for a clinic that will focus on leadership, integrity and creating life strategies to help kids succeed in whatever dreams they have.

Anderson said it’s important for adults to have high expectations for kids, because they often live up to, or down to, what adults expect from them.