Our View: Cheers for Chase
On Oct. 14, 1985, when the Spokane City Council approved creation of a youth commission, the man whose name has been associated with it ever since uttered an uncomplicated philosophy that turned out to be the foundation for two decades of success.
Said then-Mayor Jim Chase: “I’ve seen a lot of young kids that went wrong. I’ve always thought a little help at the right time would save them.” Note that Chase wanted to step in before, not after, the trouble began.
The Chase Youth Commission this year is celebrating 20 years of coordinating a little help at the right time for Spokane-area young people. The concept of a city youth agency wasn’t new in 1985. It had been on some city leaders’ minds as early as the 1960s. They foresaw a municipal role on kids’ behalf but they just couldn’t get it formalized.
Maybe success was elusive then because the conversation was mostly about rescuing dysfunctional kids from the consequences of bad choices involving drugs, drinking, delinquency, sex. Straightening out misguided youngsters, that was the challenge.
The Chase Youth Commission took a wider view. It saw kids not as sociological time bombs but as community resources to be tapped. It recognized potential in all youngsters and dedicated itself to nurturing children as contributing participants in civic life.
Commission members and other volunteers didn’t turn their backs on those nagging problem areas, but they didn’t limit their efforts to that arena, either. They looked for chances to celebrate success in the lives of youth and to forge positive outlets for youthful energy.
Significantly, they did the unthinkable. They relied heavily on the young people themselves, a fabulous community resource that had been overlooked by so many other civic enterprises, youth-related and otherwise.
Since it was formed, the Chase Youth Commission has been sprinkled liberally with youth members. Several nonprofits around town mimicked the idea and began to designate some board positions for teen members.
Last year, when the national America’s Promise program listed Spokane as one of the 100 best communities for children, it wasn’t just because the Chase Youth Commission had advocated for kids, but also because it had empowered them. Rather than choose projects and steer kids into adult-designed activities, the Chase Youth Commission has encouraged kids to come up with their own goals – from skate parks to political candidate forums – and give them life.
For many in Spokane, the Chase Youth Commission is all about the high-profile Chase Youth Awards that train a luminous beam of recognition every year on thousands of area youngsters and their accomplishments. That alone is boastworthy, but the larger success of the Chase Youth Commission is rooted in its commitment to build a community that is there for kids, at the right time, with a little help.
One generation of Spokane-area children has grown up with that resource. Now, their own children will get that chance. And the community gets richer by the year.