'Family Unity Night' a big success!

Nearly 250 attended the Fifth Annual "Family Unity Night" program held Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Italian Community Center to highlight the idea that children raised in families that have regular evening meals together are more likely to grow up to succeed and to avoid disruptive behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse and unplanned pregnancies.

Some of the families were rewarded with food baskets as door prizes. They were distributed by members of the Youth Ambassadors group (right), with Jody Rhodes, of the Neu-Life Center, reading off the winners.

Major speakers included Shay Coleman, a youth advocate and founder of Generation Sir, Inc., and Oshauwn Chambers, teen pregnancy prevention Youth Ambassador. The chair of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Network (speaking in picture at left) was Anthony McHenry of the Silver Spring Neighborhood Center. Every table was occupied at the event.

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Good reasons for families to eat meals together

Families need to continue the practice of holding family meals on a regular basis. Here's why:

DID YOU KNOW? The majority of teens (51% of guys and 53% of girls) believe that parents should start talking with their kids about sex, love, and relationships when their kids are 13 or 14. But almost one-third (27% of guys and 30% of girls) say the conversation should start even earlier—at age 12 or younger. Click here to get a downloadable copy of the flier, "Kiss and Tell," which provides advice on how parents should engage their teens in "the talk."

DID YOU KNOW? Studies show that children who eat regularly with parents are 45% less likely to drink and 66% less likely to abuse drugs! Click here to get a downloadable flyer, entitled "Mealtimes" to assist parents in creating a good mealtime family experience.

The theme for the "Family Unity Night" program is: "Families that eat together succeed together." Click here for background research that proves that fact.

The National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in September 2010 published "The Importance of Family Dinners VI (September 2010)." It states ,that compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are more than twice as likely to say that they expect to try drugs in the future. Click here for report.

Background for 'Family Unity Night'

Family Unity Night was inaugurated in 2007 when Mayor Tom Barrett of Milwaukee proclaimed the second Thursday of October each year to celebrate the night.

The basic purpose of the night is to encourage families throughout the area to take time that night, from 5 to 9 p.m., to sit down with their children and hold a family meal, without the distractions and disruptions that often occur. It's atime to turn of TVs, cellphones and listening devices and to share the food together, hopefully opening up the time for conversation and increased family communications.

For Milwaukee Brighter Futures families, many will be invited by their program agencies to the Community Dinner at the Italian Community Center, where last year upwards of 350 persons attended. Others will gather around their own dinner tables, restaurants or other community sites.

View this video from from the 2010 'Family Unity Night' event as recorded by WITI-TV (Channel 6) by clicking here.

(View the 10-minute video of the Family Unity Night Kick-off Rally by clicking here.)

(View Photos of the 2010 Event by clicking here.)

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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.

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.