What is Your Plan of Action?

Posted on 03/30/2011 @ 12:25 PM

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Tracy Echols, Chair of the Hernando Youth Initiative (HYI) and Director of Development for the Hernando County Education Foundation, and about 20 other HYI steering committee members. I was so impressed by the level of caring and commitment expressed by this motivated group of people!

HYI, started by the Education Committee for the Greater Hernando County Chamber of Commerce, is comprised of more than 80 businesses, social service entities, schools, faith-based organizations and mentoring organizations. Some of the many focuses of HYI include improving early childhood learning opportunities, increasing high school graduation rates, preventing teen pregnancy, improving overall child wellbeing, promoting mentoring opportunities and intergenerational connections, and addressing issues such as domestic and sexual violence, substance abuse, and childhood obesity.

Tracy is known for her insistence on having a plan of action – there’s no time to simply get together and lament the sad state of affairs for our children. Instead, when someone points out a problem for children and families in the area, Tracy’s response is, “How are we going to begin to fix that problem – what is our plan of action?”

So what is your plan of action? If you have story or action plan to share on childhood well-being i.e. mentoring, health, VPK etc..we'd love to hear from you.

Becky Newell
State Coordinator, West Florida
becky.newell@childrensmovementflorida.org