Connected Kids
Poverty, food insecurity, mental illness, domestic violence, and lack of early-year foundational supports have lifelong effects on children. As they enter adolescence and young adulthood, they often struggle to make connections, finish high school, and find meaningful jobs. This has a lasting impact on our community’s young people, creating low self-esteem, problems building and maintaining relationships and affecting their chances at building a successful life.
But, building kids up isn’t simple:
- 1/3 teens report low levels of self-esteem
- 2/3 of youth feel they face too many problems in their lives
- 35% of school-aged kids don’t feel like they have a friend they can count on
Together, we can do something about this.
United Way is working with community partners in order to:
Increase self-esteem in children and youth, to ensure they have the confidence to believe in themselves
Foster opportunities to participate and build connections, so children can achieve more and build supportive relationships
Develop leadership skills and strong friendships and relationships to help kids develop social skills and create a network of people they can count on
