Celebrating it’s 10th gathering of community members advancing progress for children, families and communities, Bester Community of Hope brought together close to 450 registered guests on March 26th for it’ s annual training at the Maryland Theatre. This event was titled ‘Building Bridges’, and built on past events focused on trauma informed practices and collective impact, with a particular focus this year on the role of vision and grit on successful outcomes. The unique conversation cut across sectors, and spoke equally to both audience members and those who they serve. San Mar Family & Community Services CEO, Keith Fanjoy, opened the event sharing, “our goal today is to ensure that dreaming is not a luxury. We have to also be sure that when those opportunities arrive, we’re prepared to do what it takes.”
With speakers from across the country, the program kicked off with the founder of PUSH for Dreams, Dr. John Gaines, who launched the event with an inspiring message of hope, and love under the most difficult of circumstances with his own story. He also was able to come full circle in not only mentoring and providing positive affirmations to other youth through his non-profit, but being an agent of change in several generations of his own family, repeating ‘Love is the Solution’.
Next up was Casey Family Programs Senior Director of Judicial and National Engagement, Sheldon Spotted Elk, who was able to highlight the flip side of grit. Exploring the tremendous adversity already experienced by Native Americans and continuing as a result of historical injustices and loss of culture through intentional efforts such as Indian boarding schools that existed including one in nearby Pennsylvania. He shared the power of previously meeting Olympian Billy Mills, one of two Native American gold medalists, who was a symbol of hope, and someone who had overcome great challenges. As helpers consider approaching others with messages intended to support, doing so through a lens of cultural humility must remain a priority. When considering the pathway to hope, he shared in tribal communities, “when we talk about issues like poverty, it’s most typically the poverty of hope”.
Afterwards, author of “Getting Grit” and “Big Goals” Caroline Adams Miller, focused on the science of grit and goals. She explained, “Grit says “why not me”, but it can only be cultivated when you know the big dream.” She provided a framework for helping communities by walking through a series of difficult circumstances in her journey battling bulimia, along with professional set backs, to convey what interventions made the difference in her life. She also conveyed the unintended consequences of the “self-esteem parenting movement” and that not allowing failure with boundaries actually removes the opportunity to build strength that adults are looking for in youth. “We all play a role in bringing grit back. Grit is a superpower!”
The day culminated with a memorable and captivating presentation by NASA Astronaut Don Thomas. He took audience members on a journey from humble beginnings and early adversity in his home to convey the impossibility of his childhood dream of being an astronaut. He reflected on repeated rejections from NASA, and what seemed like the end of the road. After finally breaking through and being accepted into the space program, life threw him another curve ball: cancer. But, through a relentless determination to achieve his dream, Don was able to finally achieve the impossible, space travel! He shared, “About 650 people have had the opportunity to be in space, and when you’re up there looking down at Earth from a distance it is so clear that what we have is fragile and we need to take care of it, But the other thing that is clear is that we need each other: we have this common ground. I’m not from Ohio, I’m from Earth. And we are all earthlings.”
The Governors Office for Children funded this project under award number 2025-ENGH-008, all points of view in this document are those of the author and do no necessarily represent the position of any state agency. Bester Community of Hope is an initiative of San Mar Family & Community Services, and ‘Building Bridges’ was made possible by support from the Governor’s Office on Children ENOUGH Initiative, the Washington County Department of Human Services, the Alice Virginia and David W. Fletcher Foundation and Casey Family Programs.
