Will You Help Bridge The Gap?

Wed., April 29, 1998

By Doug Floyd dougf@spokesman.com

Derrick Dyer’s resilience inspired Spokane. News of his 1998 Chase Youth Award for courage triggered a flood of generous offers - a job, money, a scholarship - to reward his grit.

Dyer will graduate soon from Rogers High School with a 3.0 grade-point average despite a childhood strewn with barriers. He lived eight years in foster homes, eight more with an alcoholic, drug-addicted mother who finally abandoned him. He slept in his car.

Dyer is an exception. Countless faceless youngsters don’t overcome their handicaps. Some make headlines not with accolades but with guns or stolen cars. Others stumble along on the edge of peril, never falling, never getting safely away from the precipice.

It’s not as certain as wiring a light switch, but there are ways known to improve kids’ chances for success - seeing to their health needs, connecting them to caring adults, providing wholesome activities, giving them skills, and nurturing their own citizenship.

That was the theme of the Presidents’ Summit on America’s Future, held a year ago in Philadelphia and run by Gen. Colin Powell. Lately, Powell’s been on the defensive, offering national statistics to show the summit has made a difference.

Half a million more spaces in boys and girls clubs, 100,000 eye examinations, 22 percent more mentors. That’s how Powell has replied to year-later skeptics.

He should be mentioning Spokane, whose second local youth summit since Philadelphia will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at Spokane Falls Community College. He knows about Spokane’s efforts. A Spokane delegation told him last January in Seattle.

The agenda includes speeches, celebrations, entertainment and community-service opportunities. But the most meaningful item may be lunch, where adults and youths will pair up for a specially designed dialogue. (For information, call the Health Improvement Partnership, 742-3660.)

Spokane is dealing with its youngsters one by one - 2,500 in the past year and counting - matching them up with resources they didn’t have before.

The challenge belongs to the entire community, and Friday’s event is one place where community members can join in a response. Organizers hope for 1,000 participants.

Schools will bus hundreds of young people to Friday’s program, called Bridging the Gap. The question concerns adults. Will enough of them be at SFCC to prove their faith in Derrick Dyer and his peers is genuine?

Local journalism is essential.

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