Kids at Hope focuses on empowering kids
Benefit concert to headline Big Mountain band
When the Yuma County Juvenile Probation Department accepted a lipsync challenge, they had no idea that it would lead to a benefit concert featuring the Big Mountain band and four local bands.
The department produced a video using the band’s version of Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” and posted it on Facebook under Kids at Hope Yuma. The department then got a message from the “Facebook police” saying that unless they got permission from the band, the music would be muted.
Tim Hardy, director of Yuma County Juvenile Justice Center, reached out to the band and they gave their permission. But the band wanted to know more about Kids at Hope.
“It looks like you’re impacting kids,” a member said.
Hardy explained what Kids at Hope does, and the band was so impressed it offered to do a concert in Yuma to benefit the organization. It will headline a Veterans Day concert on Nov. 11, along with four local bands.
At the suggestion of Councilman Mike Shelton, Hardy, chairman of Kids at Hope Yuma, appeared before the Yuma City Council Sept. 19 to share the news and explain more about the organization.
It’s based on a simple belief: All kids are capable of success. No exceptions.
Founder Rick Miller noted that too many kids are labeled “at risk” which sends the message that they’re not doing well in life and failing.
Hardy heard about it five years ago. “The concept literally changed my life.”
He attended a statewide conference and Kids at Hope was a breakout session. He didn’t know what it was.
“I’ve been in the juvenile justice field for 27 years and I thought I had come across everything,” he said.
The program encourages adults to look at every kid as having the chance
to be successful. After the session, “it totally changed my belief.”
The concept wasn’t new. He noted that a lot of people, like himself, had been doing it for years. But the system had become more about accountability and looking at the negative things kids do.
Kids at Hope still has accountability, but it focuses on the positive things kids are doing. “That makes a huge difference,” Hardy said, adding that the program is for every child, not just those in the juvenile system.
Back in Yuma, he wanted to take it to the community. “I was born and raised in Yuma. I love our community, and we wanted to share what we were learning.”
They started out with one school, and then they got calls from other schools. They all wanted to be part of it. It’s now in 27 schools and organizations without having to solicit them.
They invited 165 stakeholders to a meeting to explain the program and 150 showed up. After hearing Miller speak, “they were as excited as I am.”
As a national organization, the program serves over 750,000 youth in U..S. It has also trained 75,000 adults like Hardy.
The program asks teachers to identify three things that are special about a child. Then they are asked to challenge that child. It’s all about connecting, and Hardy believes it can be connected with, and when the community works together, every child can be served.
His goal is to get the program into every organization that deals with kids in Yuma.
“We believe every child is capable of success. And we’re not going to tolerate anybody who doesn’t believe that,” Hardy said.
The support in Yuma has been significant. A video shown by Hardy at the council meeting featured several supporters.
Maribel Saenz of The Healing Journey noted how some kids are told their future will be negative. Just having an adult knows you believe in them, believe in them makes all they will do that much better the difference. Once they … The power is in their have that hope, they want personal choice. We asked to contribute to their family, them to dream big, to think communities, to themselves, about their future.” their hobbies. They Sheila Mendoza, principal want to finish their education of Salida del Sol Elementary, and pursue their careers said it wasn’t that will make them hard changing the mindset happy. of school staff because they
Leeanne Lagunas, principal “truly want to help every at James B. Rolle Elementary, child.” pointed out that Teenager Gaby Tumbag, success looks different for a participant since 2009, every child. “Opening our explained how it made a mind about what success difference in her life. “We looks like for every child were the kids at risk, the became a priority for me. kids who no one thought A small gain for one child would do anything.” For can be a huge accomplishment them, success was maybe for another child … getting into community How can you not want to be college or working after a part of this? Every school high school. The program should be doing this.” made her believe in herself
She added: “If a child and encouraged her to strive for more.
“It made you reach goals you didn’t think you could,” she said.
She graduated from high school and attended Georgetown University.
Kids at Hope works with kids and parents and encourages law enforcement to reach out to the program immediately when they come in contact with a kid in trouble so kids don’t even have to go into the court system.
This also helps officers get back on the street quicker, instead of being tied up with kids for hours.
Shelton explained why he invited Hardy to address the council: “May 18, 2018, was the Santa Fe, Texas, school shooting. That afternoon I walked out my school teaching time, turned on the radio and heard the news. This school shooting hit me harder than the others. I had just come out of being with my students and the image of them being shot was unbearable. A substitute teacher was also shot and killed, and I am a substitute teacher.
“I decided to use my political position to do what I could to avoid such a tragedy coming to Yuma. I first spoke with County Attorney Jon Smith. He directed me to YUHSD Superintendent Gina Thompson. She recommended Tim Hardy and his Hope program.
“Tim and I met. He gave me a tour and full explanations of what the Hope Center does to redirect emotionally distraught young people. Hope has on its scale what I’m looking for. These teens may not be clinically mentally ill but they are emotionally distraught, judgmentimpaired. I’m looking for ‘off ramps from violence’ preventing school shootings, preventing deaths, and reorienting possible offenders to better ways of looking at life. Prevention is better than cure.
“There is no cure if a shooting happens. When people die we cannot bring the dead back to life. But we can identify the emotionally hurting and provide the conditions that turn them around.”
For more information on the Kids at Hope program, call 928-314-1813.