Thoughts & solutions to get through...

I just got off the phone with a youth on one of our MT reservations. Once again there has been an incident that has brought great sorrow to a community. The frustrations are sometimes overwhelming when it comes to finding ways to make things better on our reservations. All across Indian Country we are working on many programs and projects covering everything from diabetes to suicide to addiction and there always seems to be an uphill battle that we are all fighting. This youth was shook up about the fact that a huge group of community members finally joined together because of this incident. He asked, "why can't we get together like this before it comes to a horrible event...why can't we join up as a community to figure out ways to help families and kids before its too late?" We spoke for a good while about ways to spin this incident into something positive because the people were willing to do something at that time. This is nothing new, these discussions have been going on for a long time. Commitment seems to be the key, we all know that we have to show these kids and community members that we are committed to them - to each other, build that trust, build those relationships, and then hopefully we can start to work together at all levels, during good and bad times, coming together for each other not just during the painful times, but always. One good thing I found in this ordeal...a youth brought it up, a youth recognized it and wants to try to do something about it in a good way. A good momentum starter in my eyes.