Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 16, 1994 TAG: 9402180029
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The litany of social ills is as frustrating as it is familiar. And while many of them aren't exclusive to America's urban poor, they are all present there. Each problem widens the divide between the merely poor and what has become known as the underclass, those with little expectation of ever being anything but poor, and their children after them - dependent on society, yet alienated from it.
How can a community help snag children off this treadmill?
A wide range of services in the Roanoke Valley is, in fact, aimed at saving the kids, offering support to families struggling under the stresses of poverty. Cadres of people are helping, some who have made it their profession, others who volunteer time and skills.
They have not enjoyed total success, obviously, but neither have they experienced total failure. They have helped.
Now some of these people are looking for a way to make children's issues not just their priority, but the priority of the Roanoke Valley. They have formed the Roanoke Valley Alliance for Children to develop an agenda that will bring together a variety of needs, coordinate a variety of efforts, and enlist community support to add focus and strength to their endeavors.
The alliance is billed as a coalition of "citizens, including parents, child-serving professionals for all disciplines, members of the business community, civic groups, and other organizations, which advocates for the interests of children and families and coordinates regional planning for services and resource development."
But, predictably, the group thus far has attracted mostly the usual crowd: human-services providers who already are working with at-risk children, and who traditionally draw support from the public sector.
The alliance is still in its formative stages, however, and its members seem to recognize the need for broader involvement. They are seeking support in particular from the valley's business sector.
What business is this of business? That should be apparent. This region's future depends on our children growing into responsible, productive adults, working for good lives for themselves and better lives for their children. Many impoverished families will do this, of course, without any intervention. But too many are at risk of falling on that treadmill of dependence and despair, which is hard to avoid and harder still to get off once it's in motion.
The alliance has adopted a statement of values that stresses parents' primary responsibility for providing for their children's needs, both physical and spiritual. But it also acknowledges society's interest in child-rearing and its obligation to intervene "whenever parents who fail to meet their responsibilities put their children at risk."
This is an obligation shared by the entire community, and vital to its prospects. And to exercise it effectively will require the entire community's resources - the time, the talent and the financial support of many doers, not just the usual do-gooders. That's why the new Roanoke Valley Alliance for Children needs support.
As valley leaders work toward creating a vision of what this region should be in the next century, what could be more appropriate than a commitment to focus on the future's embodiment - our children?
They're the ones who will ensure the success or failure of grand plans and dreams. Even a smart highway will go nowhere if today's youth aren't on it tomorrow.
by CNB