A rousing start for 'Family Unity Night'

The "Celebrating Milwaukee Families" project got off to a rousing start on June 24th at Washington Park. It was held to kickoff a six-month campaign to reduce one of Milwaukee's mostpersistent teen problems: the continuing growth of unplanned pregnancies.

Dozens of families from six agencies affiliated with Milwaukee Brighter Futures participated in the suppertime event. DJ Demetri Evans kept the crowd entertained as they picked up the meals consisting of hot dogs and all the trimmings for the kids and burritos for adults donated by Chipotle on Mayfair Road.

State Senator Lena Taylor offered opening remarks, followed by County Supervisor Peggy West, Milwaukee Fatherhood Leader Al Holmes, TPPN Chair Anthony McHenry and BF Coordinator Racquel Bell. The event was emceed by Andrea Williams of Radio Station 98.3. It was also covered fully by WITI-TV (Channel Six) and narrated by Krystina Head. (Note: You may view the 1:40 minute clip here. http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-100624-family-dinners,0,2205222.story

Jody Rhodes introduced 11 members of the Youth Ambassadors, a group of young people who helped plan and set up the event. The teens passed out the food, assisted in registration and at the end distributed six food baskets to families winning the door prizes.

Khalil Coleman gave an oral presentation of a poem he wrote signifying the challenges young people face and their means to overcomes them, followed by a song by Porsha Nelson. Both are youth Ambassadors.

Special thanks goes also to United Healthcare which made a major contribution and set up a table at the event.

Families attended from the following agencies: Kids Matter, Inc., Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Christian Center, Neu-Like Community Resource Center, Pathfinders and Silver Spring Neighborhood Center.

(View Photos of the Event by clicking here.)

Ten-year plan seeks to end homelessness here

Milwaukee Continuum of Care Coalition recently released a ten-year plan to "end homelessness in Milwaukee," inthewords of CoC Coordinator Joe Volk.

The plan is a result of a planning process that invlved much of the community, and it is currently being reviewed for passage by the Milwaukee County Board and later by the Milwaukee Common Council for endorsementby the two governments.

Volk told the March Brighter Futures meeting that it is important the plan "not be put on a shelf and forgotten." To see the entire plan, click here.

3rd Annual Family Unity Night brings families together on belief that eating together helps kids

A belief that when families regularly eat together their children will have a lot greater chance at success is behind the Family Unity Night (F.U.N.) observanceheld on Thursday, Oct. 8.

The 3rd Annual F.U.N. is sponsored by the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Network, a coalition of nonprofit organizations working to strengthen families and decrease the rates of teen pregnancies.

In 2007, Mayor Tom Barrett recognized the value of the effort by proclaiming the second Thursday in each October as Family Unity Night.

Milwaukee families joined together on that night to eat a family meal, either at home, at a restaurant or at dozens of community settings, from 5 to 9 p.m. See photos here.

The Youth Ambassadors of the TPPN participated in distributing food baskets to families that won in a raffle among those who signed a pledge to continue to practice having family dinners on a regular basis. Two of the youth are shown (above right) on the way toward making a visit.

Violence Continues to Impact Milwaukee Youth, According to Survey of 500 Teens

Milwaukee’s teenagers continue to face violence in their lives, according to the Milwaukee Brighter Futures Youth Survey that was conducted in October 2007 among 439 children aged 12-17.

Teens rarely feel “safe,” they said in the survey conducted among youth who are served by 13 agencies that are members of the Milwaukee Youth and Family Development Alliance (MYFDA). About one in five said they feel safe in the community at places like schools, churches and youth centers, while only 64% say they feel “safe” at home.

Violence continued to characterize the lives of many teens, the survey showed, with 58% having been in one or more physical fights in the last year, and 21% reported carrying a weapon in the past month alone.

The survey also showed that 59% of the surveyed children admitted to having sexual intercourse, with the average age of first intercourse (13.3 years). The average age for boys having their first episode was 12.8 years, significantly younger than for girls (14.1).

Partnering with MYFDA in the Youth Survey were the Milwaukee Drug Free Communities Support Program of IMPACT, Inc., and the Center for Urban Initiatives for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This is the third time the Youth Survey has been conducted; the two previous surveys were done in 2004 and 2005.

“This is a ‘snapshot’ of youth behavior in the year 2007, as identified by the young people themselves,” commented Jan Wilberg, Ph.D., evaluation coordinator. “The surveys were conducted voluntarily and with assured privacy among youth who participate in our programs. While the survey covers basically youth in Brighter Futures programs, it really is a valid sample of Milwaukee teens since it includes both frequent and infrequent program users. The survey results really tell today's story about the city's teens - good and bad.”

Direct comparisons between the most recent survey and the earlier ones are difficult, she said, because of the differing nature of the surveyed youth groups. Nonetheless, the survey does indicate continued concern with such areas as use of illegal drugs, violence among the youth, sexual behaviors and general relationships, Wilberg said.

Joe Volk, project director, said the survey offers critical information to the 25 agencies of the Brighter Futures coalition as they develop strategies to assist Milwaukee youth into being able to grow into successful adults. He said:

“We need to listen to the youth themselves to learn what they’re thinking and what they’re experiencing in everyday life. While the survey shows many difficult problems exist with our youth, it also shows that many are on the road to success.”

Some of the key findings of the survey included:

Youth are more likely to use marijuana (41%) and alcohol (66%) than to use tobacco (34%). And youth say they find it easier to obtain marijuana (51%) than cigarettes (41%) or alcohol (37%).
Some 74% of youths agreed with the statement “I care about other people’s feelings;” a similar percentage said they could resist peer pressure and dangerous situations.
There were significant differences in answers when comparing “violent” and “nonviolent” youth, with “violent” youth being identified as those who had reported carrying a weapon in the last month and had been in two or more physical fights in the last year. The “violent” youth reported using and having easier access to tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. Also, the “violent” youth were more sexually active, with 83% reporting having had sexual intercourse compared to 55% of ‘nonviolent” youth. (Of 433 surveys, 60 youth met the criteria of being “violent.”)
Some 49% reported participating in daily exercise, with 23% reporting exercising one day or less a week.
Nearly four out of five sexually active youth (77%) reported having two or more partners while 18% of the girls and 10% of the boys reported using no method to prevent pregnancy.

Survey respondents had an average age of 15.0 years with an average grade level of mid-ninth grade. African-Americans comprised 69% of the sample, Hispanic 8%, white 7%, American Indian 2%, Asian 1% and other 5%. All were participants in programs that aim at positive youth development.

Milwaukee Brighter Futures is a program of Community Advocates, Inc., a Milwaukee-based community agency, and is supported by funding from the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Health and Family Services. The Milwaukee Youth and Family Development Alliance (MYFDA) was organized in 1999 to provide a forum for collaboration across community networks and to establish a sponsoring entity for the Milwaukee Brighter Futures Initiative. MYFDA is an alliance of people from Milwaukee and Wisconsin networks, coalitions, partnerships and organizations working collaboratively to ensure that all youth achieve success by strengthening families, neighborhoods and communities.

For a complete copy of the Youth Survey in PDF format click here.