Flathead County YODA (Youth Opening Doors through Advocacy) has been very busy! We had the opportunity to work with our fellow YODA group in Missoula making a video. There was a couple of incidences of youth in special education that were being abused by their teachers. So YODA wanted to take the bull by the horn and make it known that we know what’s going on and we’re not going to sit back and do nothing! We made a video, which is posted on YouTube, so that the YODA members could speak their minds and people who watch the video could see their reactions to the horrible stories.
On a better note, Flathead YODA is getting a little closer to taking action on our communities’ public transportation issues. There has been some research done online on other rural communities that have had issues but turned out to be a successful story. We’re taking some of those stories into consideration. We also could use some help from more youth, so please contact your Kalispell Summit Independent Living Center at 406-257-0048 if you would like to join us in making our community more independent for everyone.
Trust me! YODA is definitely NOT all work and no play! Summit Independent Living Center just sponsored a family in need. At Christmas time, YODA got to spend a day shopping for presents for the family! We even got to wrap the presents! It was so much fun. Everyone felt really good about being able to give back in such a great way to a great family.
During the fall, we also had some great outdoor activities that we got to do. For instance we had the opportunity to go bowling and fishing. We’ve had a couple really great parties, and there’s more to come! There are always fun tasty snacks and drinks provided so if you’re in between the ages of 14 to 30, looking to make some great new friends and do some wonderful things in your community, then give us a call! You can leave a message for Amanda Edwards at Summit Independent Living Center and I’ll get back to you quickly. If you prefer, you can email me at aedwards@summitilc.org.
