Resource-starved communities struggling to service month-to-month debt obligations mimic the everyday plight of American families. In both cases, survival is at stake and it makes me think that, much like a failing business, our communities need to be restructured; they are hemorrhaging human and financial capital. The short-run buckshot solution (“Here, sprinkle some stimulus money on it.”) is not enough and the needle-nose rifles of policy-wonk-snipers are not loaded with long-range silver bullets to adequately put pertinent issues to “rest” anytime soon.  How does survival happen?

Well, what fixes have your fellow community leaders proposed?  Are they band-aid solutions or long-term recovery strategies?  Scattered analogies aside, it boils down to this:  The future of communities heavily depend upon the next generation of youth.  Local youth are affected most by community leaders’ decisions.  Dovetailing school budgets, dilapidated educational facilities, and diminishing teacher resources are only a few of the glaring red flags.  Youth are consistently marginalized.  Adult leaders hand down decisions that dictate the trajectory of opportunities for community youth.  But you do not need world-class school buildings or the best teachers to overcome extinction.  Communities need vision-driven leadership with which youth can identify.

I urge community leaders to ignore U.S. News World Report rankings and truly invest in youth.  What scarce resources remain; channel them toward high-impact youth programming and development.  Find a competent leader with a plan that youth can and will rally around.  If you need help, reach out for help.  Cultivate and support a generation of innovative and practical problem solvers, because the history of the future of your community must be re-written.  Return back to the basics.  Your community’s survival, the fundamental building block of progress, depends on it.

~Young Impact

Twitter @youngimpact