Published: January 25, 2008 11:01 am         

Mercer keeps five promises to area kids

PRINCETON — Mercer County pulls its weight when it comes to young people, and for the third consecutive year, the America’s Promise Alliance has recognized the community’s effort to nurture children and produce a happy healthy youth.

The Alliance announced this week that Mercer County is again one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People, based on its dedication to helping each and every child find the five pledges of America’s Promise: caring adults who are actively involved in their lives; safe places to learn and play; a healthy, happy and productive start to life; an effective education that builds marketable skills; and opportunities to help others.

Together with Monroe County, which garnered the award for the second consecutive year, Community Connections Executive Director Greg Puckett said Thursday Mercer County has represented southern West Virginia with pride, perseverance and a determination to make tomorrow better than today for children throughout the region.

“As now a three-time recipient of the 100 Best Communities honor, our community continually thinks outside the box and has never rested on our laurels,” Puckett said during a media conference celebrating the event inside Judge William Sadler’s courtroom. “Like our state, we are resilient. We are strong, and we believe that things can change. We have a can-do attitude and value collaboration, not competition.”

While Community Connect-ions, Mercer County’s family resource network, has applied for the 100 Best honor the last three years, Puckett and other partners on hand Thursday emphasized the award belongs to every business, organization, school and individual who works to make Mercer County a place of more opportunities than obstacles.

While Community Connec-tions sponsors innovative programs such as Mercer County Teen Court, Body Safety classes and the ESPN Radio Drug-Free All-Stars, Puckett said the group’s success would be impossible without business backing, government support and individual participation.

“Whether it’s parents working through local PTA programs, or maybe a teacher spending time after school for a youth in need, we have that,” he said.

America’s Promise was founded in 1997 by retired Gen. Colin Powell, after the Presidents’ Summit, during which Presidents Bush, Carter, Clinton and Ford, along with former first lady Nancy Reagan, challenged the United States to make children and their futures a national priority. Out of that framework, the 100 Best Communities awards were born in 2005.

While the alliance honors the 100 Best Communities, Puckett said the designations were never designed to pay tribute to perfect towns and communities coast to coast.

“You may be skeptical of what we see. I will tell you we don’t live in a perfect place. No one does. But, it is the vision of something great that can truly make change. That is what this award is about,” he said. “It is about the effort and ability to make a difference. Not the glowing statistics. We don’t always have those, but we do have partners willing to say, ‘That’s not right, and I want to make it better.’”

Mercer County Commission President Joe Coburn also spoke during the event, thanking Puckett and Community Connections for representing Mercer County well during the America’s Promise 100 Best application process.

“The County Commission is real proud of this. It’s an honor this group could win this...” Coburn said.

Princeton Community Hospital’s Sandy Counts, a manager in the hospital’s women’s center, said she took particular pride in one of the five America’s Promise vows: healthy starts.

“I feel like the healthy start is really the foundation all the other promises are built on,” she said, outlining the efforts PCH makes to ensure it keeps that promise for all its babies.

Along the way, she said PCH also offers a safe place for youth to learn, caring adults, educational opportunities and chances to give back.

ChildLaw Services Director Shannon Atwell hailed the 100 Best award as a bright accomplishment for Mercer County but said it is not an opportunity to “gloss over” the problems local youth still face in homes and situations where fear dims their outlook on life.

Instead, she said it is a rallying point for people who care to make a difference and a reminder to children and teens that their community cares.

The concept is sort of like heating a house, according to Atwell. As days of cold winds and snow continue, she said homeowners know, “It’s financially worth it to insulate that home.”

The same holds true of children, as development programs and opportunities to help produce better, happier, healthier youth, insulate them from drug abuse, destructive environments and unsafe activities.

“It’s not only financially worth it, it’s the right thing to do,” she said.

And, finally, Community Connections Safe and Drug Free Community Coordinator Travis Helmondollar said the 100 Best award is also a sign of continued responsibility to big ideas, bigger projects and hard work to make them happen.

“Ideas are powerful only insofar as they seize our imaginations and empower us and energize us to take action,” he said. “I believe that with our rights as Americans comes great responsibilities. In a very real and important way, the American dream has always rested on a sense of obligation ... to give back ... to ensure that future generations will enjoy the opportunities we have today.”

As part of that responsibility, Puckett pledged Community Connections and Mercer County will work tirelessly toward three goals identified during a recent America’s Promise conference: enrolling more children in SCHIP, a government health insurance program for underserved children; reaching children where they are, in schools, teen centers and places that draw children and families together; and making sure today’s youth are ready for the real world they’ll meet upon graduation.

“We will cherish this honor, but will not rest ...” he said. “We are committed, dedicated and driven to make our community better.”

— Contact Tammie Toler at ttoler@ptonline.net.

     

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