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Helping Raise Healthy Teens
When IdaLynn Wenhold heard about a group to help area teens, she thought it sounded like a good idea. "Edward Hospital started the initiative after seeing an increase in the number of teens in their emergency room in the late 90's. Their plan was to start a program for healthy teens and support it once it was established," explains IdaLynn. As a Naperville mother of three, IdaLynn decided to support the effort by becoming a volunteer. After a few meetings, IdaLynn, who holds a masters degree in education community counseling, was asked to become the executive director of the group as it was breaking away from Edward Hospital to become KidsMatter, a non-profit organization. She accepted the position in 2001 and continues to work to expand the group.
Two of the most successful programs for KidsMatter are the Volunteer Fair and the Job Fair. "This year's volunteer fair will be Wednesday, September 22 at the Naperville Municipal Building. The fair connects young people with volunteer service agencies. We have between 25 to 30 agencies come and last year, there were 800 young people who attended. This year we are adding family volunteer opportunities because research has shown that young people who volunteer with a significant adult are more likely to continue serving."
The Job Fair takes place in March each year. "Three years ago, there were 52 companies who participated. Two years ago, there were 25 and this year, there were only 20. There were 400 job opportunities but about 1,500 young people attended," noted IdaLynn, pointing to the difficult economy as the cause for the decrease.
The organization holds other events including the annual Skaters Picnic and the Youth Service Awards. "We provide asset building programs that are aimed at strengthening the social emotional development of youth," says Ida Lynn. She recently completed a study to identify youth stressors. The results showed that the top three sources of stress for Naperville young people are competition, over-involvement in activities and perfectionism. IdaLynn has been organizing programs to address these sources of stress.
"We have a wonderfully supportive board," says IdaLynn. "As we have gained momentum, I have been able to bring on two more part-time people so now there are three part-time people who really give full-time hours. We are effective because there is such wonderful support. We will continue to work on activities to build the developmental assets for youth. We do what we can to help families to grow healthy teens." –Judy Buchenot