It was unimaginable to many across the country that this little idea of changing the way America was labeling its children from at risk to at hope would ultimately usher in a remarkable and powerful initiative designed to empower every caring adult with a set of principles and practices when rooted in a school, youth serving organization or program’s culture could be the vaccine against the hopelessness, aimlessness and failure too many of our children were still experiencing.

And yet, in only six short years, the little idea that could has begun to transform entire institutions in not only believing, but dramatically demonstrating that all children, regardless of their backgrounds or threats in their lives; in spite of past or present negative conditions; still possess the capacity to succeed. However, for this vaccine to work so that all children truly have a chance to contribute to their communities, to their families, to their careers and education and to themselves through their hobbies and recreation, a new and bold strategy needed to be achieved. This strategy would be different from the “good intentions” of the past. So much of what we do for our children is based on our good intentions, not necessarily from a body of scientific knowledge of evidence-based practices. And for many youth, good intentions do work. Unfortunately, for far too many of our youth it is not enough and we need to be concerned about that as well. This is why we still have too many children drop out of school, join gangs, take drugs, commit suicide, and engage in inappropriate social behavior; too many children not achieving their potential.

So is your hat firmly attached to your head? Is your seat belt still fastened? Are you still holding your breath and will your imagination allow this extraordinary thought? Kids at Hope plans to change all that. And here is our commitment . . . we hope to reach every child in America. Not just some children, all children. Here is what is happening at Kids at Hope to achieve such an astonishing vision.