CHILDREN FIRST  

  Started by St. Louis Park Rotary

CHILDREN FIRST INITIATIVE THE RESULT OF INSPIRATIONAL SPEECH BY LOCAL ROTARIAN

      During a routine speech to his 100-member St. Louis Park Rotary Club in March 1992, Carl Holmstrom, then Superintendent of the St. Louis Park, Minn. public school district, felt compelled to challenge his fellow Rotarians regarding the needs of local students and their families.  The challenge worked.

     Two entrepreneurs and members of the club, Wayne Packard and Gil Braun, responded to the superintendent’s plea and pushed community leaders to think creatively about how to more effectively support St. Louis Park youth.  Members of the club realized that in order for this effort to be successful, it needed to be embedded in a community partnership.  Soon, the community partners were recruited, funds were raised (starting with a Rotary investment), a board of directors was formed, a community facilitator was hired and a program was developed. 

  Nearly nine years later, Children First is a vibrant youth and family advocacy and resource initiative based in St. Louis Park, a program that has been replicated in similar fashion by nearly 600 communities nationwide.

  Children First is based on “40 developmental assets” found in successful youth that have been identified by the Minneapolis-based Search Institute.  “It is essentially a call to individuals, families and organizations to reclaim responsibility for youth and provide for youth the care and support they need,” said Children First Coordinator, Karen Atkinson. 

  Examples of Children First facilitated projects include: parents and community volunteers teaming up with high school staff to recognize and celebrate the right to vote among 18 year-olds; neighborhood teens volunteering to rake the lawns of their elderly neighbors; high school students contacting neighbors to solicit contributions to the Glenhurst Avenue Scholarship program for graduating seniors; neighbors arranging to extend the hours of the warming house at the local skating rink and volunteering to serve hot chocolate and coordinating games; supporting Central Clinic – a clinic for area youth – with over $300,000 in supplies, services and manpower, offering free physical and mental health services; and local Rotary members serving as mentors to high school students enrolled in an alternative curriculum program called “Operation Jump-Start.”

 “St. Louis Park has many strong resources, but a coordinated effort is needed to ensure that every child and teen is surrounded by the positive influences young people need to grow into successful, productive adults,” added Atkinson.  “That’s where Children First steps in.”  This proactive initiative, focusing on kids from birth to age 18, started with Rotary and then extended to local partners.  They included several area businesses (facilitated through Rotary), the city itself, the school district, members of the health care community, including Park Nicollet clinics and Methodist Hospital, as well as several local churches and synagogues.