Her name was Summer.

In Spokane during that season astonishing gardens flourish in the city’s historic Manito Park. There we stroll on sun-splashed afternoons through beds of tall snapdragons, brashly colored dahlias and brilliant marigolds. Their blossoms with their rich vitality and promise have made us proud for generations.

Four-year-old Summer Phelps, who died of suspected child abuse last month, will never reach that season of her life. Now her tragic death warns us of the precarious beginnings of so many others in our region.

Each year thousands of babies are born here. They’re like the tender seedlings that fill the greenhouses at Manito this time of year, nestled away from the cold air and heavy rains so that by August they’ll fully flower.

Scientists have discovered much about the needs of young children. Their earliest days are marked by rapid growth and stark vulnerability.

Yet today the Americans most likely to live in poverty are children. When their developing minds are deeply wounded by the dark emotions and dangerous chemicals of toxic stress and violence, the damage can last their entire lives. They may never learn to love or trust, or to have the confidence and character to succeed in school, on a job or as a parent.

This month you’ll hear about the prevalence of child abuse in our region. Last year, the Washington Department of Social and Health Services received 4,014 referrals in Spokane County from people worried about a child or a family. Washington State University researchers believe DSHS hears of only a fraction of those who need help.

Clearly, we can’t afford to look away. When children grow up whole and strong, tended by parents who care for them deeply and well, our entire community prospers. If they wither or die, the region risks a future both weed-choked and dry.

And so this month’s theme will be “Our Kids: Our Business.”

This month-long community project invites us to look within and assess our own skills as parents. We can all do this profoundly important job better.

We’ll also be asked to think of how our lives may be affected by child abuse and neglect. The classmate in the next desk, too distracted by the trauma of his own family, can also derail our own children’s learning. Damaged co-workers and employees can bring disruption and danger into our workplaces.

You’ll hear lots more about this throughout the month. But here’s the take-away message today: There’s much you can do.

You’ll be asked to sign a call to action and to promise to take a single step. You can undergo training to make your business a safe haven for kids, lobby a legislator, act as the “extended family” for isolated young parents, write a check or simply pay closer attention to the children on your block.

Together we can create a lavish garden for this region’s future, filled with young lives destined to bloom and flourish, to the benefit of us all, for all the generations – and all the Summers – yet to come.