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Generations Together Retreat

(Howard County Connections)

COMMUNITIES BUILDING ASSETS
Generations Together Retreat

By: Nicole Martino

Nicole Martino is an intern for Horizon Foundation’s Howard County CONNECTIONS. She is a senior at Reservoir High School and editor of the newspaper. She is studying the topic of developmental assets and will be reporting on the activities of CONNECTIONS throughout the year.

On September 18th the Horizon Foundation held its 5th “Generations Together” Retreat at Glenelg Country School for all youth and adult community wellness leaders in western Howard County. The purpose of this meeting was to learn not only about assets but also how to build an asset rich community where all young people are valued and can thrive. This retreat is part of the the Connections initiative to bring assets to a countywide level. The day long retreats, which have been held in various locations throughout the county including Elkridge, Ellicott City, Harpers Choice, and the Southeast region, have all been working towards the goal being building an asset-rich community where all young people are valued and thrive. “The purpose is to promote resilient and empower youth,” Peggy Alexander, Horizon Director of CONNECTIONS, stated upon welcoming those in attendance, “Every single act that we decide to do will help to build this movement.”

Shelby Andress, a trainer from the Search Institute, who facilitated the retreat, described it as one of the most successful retreats she has seen yet because of the high ratio of youth to adults. “There was so much wisdom and understanding in this group,” she said, “There was a spirit of wisdom that impressed me.”

The six hour day involved a morning session in which those in attendance learned about the assets and what they are and the research behind them. They then considered the problems they were working with and developed an action plan which addressed how to solve these problems. This retreat has brought the assets philosophy into a wider audience rather than just the three pilot schools, including students, representatives from philanthropic organizations throughout the county, librarians, teachers, and other “community trustees,” as Andress called them, “You hold the young people of your communities in trust,” she said.

As a young person, this retreat was a unique experience. For the first time, I felt that I was working with adults on the same level, both working toward a common goal using each other as resources. They were not looking down on me because of my age and I did not feel inferior to them because of my lack of experience. The beauty of the retreat was that it was not a forced environment, as a school or other institution, and that both youth and adults were working together as equals. I felt strongly that these adults honestly listened to what I had to say regardless of my age, status, color or experience. In my opinion, it is this that allowed for what one participant described as an experience comparable to a, “divine intervention.”

Alexander closed with a quote that stated, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever does.” As an observer as well as a participant, I believe this to be true, and it will be the small groups at each of the Generations Together retreats that will take the first steps in promoting countywide youth resiliency and empowerment.