Today is:

Kids First Program

If you are interested in participating in the KidsFirst® program, or if you would like to be a community donor or sponsor of a local YOU Program for your community please email us at: KidsFirst®.

The KidsFirst® program is offered in collaboration with Youth Outdoors Unlimited (YOU). Youth Outdoors Unlimited, Inc. is a publicly funded, not-for-profit organization (501(c)(3)) organized to provide and support safe outdoor recreation programs for youth and families. The program is currently engaged in offering outdoor recreational opportunities to families with children between the ages 5 – 17 on the Olympic Peninsula.

The KidsFirst® Program on the North Olympic Peninsula is offered thanks to cooperation through the Clallam County Gem and Mineral Society (CCGMS), which sponsors families and children on field trips, and offers class and shop instruction related primarily to lapidary and geology. Families and their children who participate under the guidelines of the YOU Program are fully sponsored.

The CCGMS has demonstrated, to the YOU Board of Directors, commitment to its community by offering for many years free demonstrations and classroom instruction in the lapidary arts, geology, archaeology, and paleontology to local community schools as instructors become available. The organization also offers an annual Rock and Gem show during the first week of October of every year, and on Friday the doors are open for classrooms from local schools to come to the show and learn about lapidary. In the spring of each year the CCGMS offers a scholarship award to a member of that years graduating class who wishes to pursue higher education in the field of Earth Sciences.

If you are interested in participating in the KidsFirst® program, or if you would like to be a community financial contributor or sponsor of a local YOU Program for your community please email us at: KidsFirst®.

In 2003 the White House received a report which it had commissioned earlier titled;“The White House Task Force For Disadvantaged Youth.” In this in-depth report are cited many of the current concerns of the YOU Program.  Below we would like to share an excerpt from that report.

“The complexity of the problems faced by disadvantaged youth is matched only by the complexity of the traditional Federal response to those problems. Both are confusing, complicated, and costly.

Ideally, we want the families and communities of young people to be able to supply all that they need — love, a secure childhood, adequate housing, access to health care, a good education, discipline of character, a sense of personal responsibility, and a commitment to their communities and their country. Most young Americans are raised in this kind of environment, and they grow up to be healthy, responsible, and productive citizens.

But there are children who have the same dreams for their own futures, whose daily realities make those dreams seem forever out of reach. The Federal government plays a significant role in helping to make up for those daily deficits for millions of disadvantaged youth.

Because of his commitment to the Nation's youth and to improving the effectiveness of Federal programs in general, the President created the White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth on December 23, 2002.1 He directed the Task Force to develop for his consideration a comprehensive Federal response to the problems of youth failure, under existing authorities and programs, with a focus on enhanced agency accountability and effectiveness”.

White House Task Force for Disadvantaged Youth,
Final Report, October 2003

The YOU Program has long recognized and understands that there are innumerable circumstances that place kids in a disadvantaged positions. Some struggle with social, economic and health issues, others may experience challenges that interfere with their ability to function as other youth do. Regardless of the challenges, the YOU Program wants to make sure there are no limits to what kids can do in the outdoors, regardless of their circumstances.  The YOU Program goes beyond the White House's report and believes that not all families, or youth, are dysfunctional or disadvantaged due to things like lack of care, or love within the family unit, or because of to disabilities. In fact, we believe that many families and youth are not able to participate in outdoor activities for other reasons which we believe are equally important to our communities and family units.

Today, unlike any other time in history, households more often than not, require two incomes to meet the basic needs and requirements of the family unit. This often leaves the family with a financial inability to reach beyond these basic needs and requirements, to include any form of outdoor recreational activity.  Many families today forgo vacation opportunities, and keep on working for the extra income, or are forced to take their vacation leave anyway but stay home, unable to participate in outdoor activities due to budgeting issues.  Youth are often left alone at home after school, and on weekends due to parental work schedules.  This can present itself with a tremendous strain on the family unit and its well-being, and in too many cases can set the stage for youth to disassociate from the family unit, and end up in associations with other groups of youth who are also suffering from disassociation from the family unit.  as years of statistics have demonstrated youth who are not bound to a stable family unit end up in trouble and in worse cases become associated with dangerous gang mentality.

The YOU Programs are designed around the model of providing counseling and/or in some cases financial means for families and youth allowing them access to exciting outdoors recreation activities.   We believe that these efforts help families and youth build character and self-reliance, self-love, social leadership and life skills, and the added benefit of better developing family bonding skills, and most importantly respect for and within the family unit structure.   We believe that by giving families and youth the chance to experience family oriented programs, that they may not otherwise have had access too, strengthens the bonds of the family unit. Yes, a large focuses or our organizations efforts are still on the disadvantaged youth, however we believe there needs to be an expansion of programs to service the family units who are primiarly disadvantaged only due to financial issues.

We would like to quote another section of the 2003 report titled; “Better Connections Engaging Youth and Families.”

“Research has shown that in order to ensure their healthy development, adolescents need caring adults in their lives; opportunities to learn marketable skills and maintain good health; and opportunities to contribute meaningfully to their communities and society.? Generally, American families and communities are doing a good job of addressing these youth needs and opportunities. We make several recommendations aimed at validating and building on the strengths that exist in most families and communities. The first recommendation is born from the knowledge that parents play a pivotal role in guiding their children's development and should be supported in that role. The next two recommendations are aimed at providing opportunities for young people to contribute through service, recognizing the value of the assets they bring to their communities and to the Nation.”

We believe that involving parents as much as possible in the program, including in the planning of any such program, is key to the overall success of the family unit.. Families who work and/or play together more instinctively build character and self-reliance, self-love, social leadership and life skills, family bonding, and generate strong long-term respect within the family unit structure.

We do disagree however with the findings of the report that states; “Generally, American families and communities are doing a good job of addressing these youth needs and opportunities.” It is of our opinion that if one child, or one family is left behind by not having equal access to outdoor opportunities, especially due to financial concerns, as a community we have not done a good job "yet" of addressing these needs.  At the YOU Program we have commited and will do our best to help all that come to us for assistance.  We can not do it without your contined help and support.

   or Click Adobe Acrobate Reader to go to Adobe Website

   or Click WinZip to go to the Website