YIPA's Adventures at Target Field! by Clare Ryan, YIPA's Promise Fellow

YIPA members, staff and family gather around the golden glove for a group photo!

Thursday, June 24th was the perfect day for a Twin Cities adventure. Over twenty YIPA members from across the state gathered by the front entrance of Target Field for a 90-minute insiders’ tour. I must confess woeful ignorance about the game of baseball, so while others (some decked out from head to toe in Twins garb) marveled at the images of famous Twins from the past, I was amazed by the 13 keg rooms – with pipes labeled “beer” leading all over the stadium! The investment into environmentally responsible building was also pretty awesome.

YIPA member Maureen Farrell and her husband enjoy an amazing view

After the tour we headed over to Smalley’s 87 Club for a bite to eat. Sitting outside and munching on burgers and fries, I had the pleasure of chatting with Jim Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney, Elise Peterson from Community Mediation Services and Cheryl Meld of Futures by Design in the McGregor schools. What I found most exciting was hearing what people are doing in such different settings and at very different points in their careers. Both Jim and Cheryl have been serving their communities for many years, while Elise, like myself, is just starting out after graduating from William Mitchell last year. Because of my involvement in AmeriCorp, I have talked to many young youth workers and one of the common complaints I have heard is that people can feel isolated in their jobs and not really know what is going on in other communities around the state. Active involvement in a statewide association, like YIPA, can help ease that isolated feeling.

Being a YIPA member means having a tireless advocate at the capitol, it means having access to high-quality and affordable trainings, but it also means a chance to have fun, meet other youth workers from across the state, and share stories over a burger. In other words, YIPA is a community.

That community came together again on Friday for our summer quarterly membership meeting. We welcomed new members and greeted old friends. My favorite part of YIPA’s quarterly meetings is at the beginning when we go around and give updates from our organization. This time we heard about new summer youth jobs initiatives and we heard from our friends in Wadena County about the devastating tornado damage that they suffered recently (more to come on this). We talked about building a stronger coalition for legislative action. I shared my research on best practices in youth intervention, which I will be sharing more about in the coming weeks. Then, we sat down with sandwiches and talked to each other. People from Badger and Ely to Rochester shared updates and new ideas.

That afternoon, we had the great pleasure of learning an amazing amount about prescription and over-the-counter drug use by youth. Jay Jaffee, from the Minnesota Department of Health, was incredibly knowledgeable and opened the eyes of many participants to the ways that young people use legal or “harmless” drugs and how drug companies market these products.

YIPA is an association that welcomes members from all kinds of community-based programs. So long as your organization has some program that serves youth who are at risk for falling into the juvenile justice system, you are invited to be a part of this growing association. For more information visit our website www.mnyipa.org or contact Chris Klejbuk, our membership coordinator, at cklejbuk@tcq.net.