Point of View: Planet Youth Homer: Growing up in and around our community
Published 9:30 pm Wednesday, August 27, 2025
Surrounded by natural environments that sustain our hearts, minds, souls and bodies, Kachemak Bay is a special place to have the privilege of calling home. Just as the nature we thrive in each day deserves to be stewarded, protected and nurtured, so do our younger community members.
As a youth advocate, I have had the opportunity to work with the youth in our community firsthand. Even after almost 20 years, I still feel fortunate to spend time with teenagers that are in the midst of the largest brain developmental period we experience as humans. Their brains are always doing work that requires energy, nutrition, sleep and social connection.
Young people today have so much against them as they grow — a society learning how to create healthier environments post-COVID-19, fewer intergenerational activities and living conditions than ever before, and social media ruling so much of their brain waves with global access to nearly anything.
For teens especially, volume is cranked up on everything — their opinions, values, relationships, interests, etc., are all working together to determine who they’ll be. Do you know what’s rad? This current generation seems to me like they’re placing so much more value on empathy and compassion for themselves and others!
In the last couple decades, while our society was gaining understanding of neurological information on just how creative and powerful the adolescent brain is, teens were just doing their thing — growing up in an ever-changing world, trying to make sense of it all as they practice being adults.
It’s our duty as a society to help nurture a healthy culture so youth are encouraged to grow up with a positive sense of well-being. Many cultures prioritize this and, historically, society did as a whole during times when people were living more tribal existences. While Homer has so much to offer young people, we also share the common reality with many rural communities that not all of our youth feel a sense of connection here or feel supported by our community.
Putting our youth first when focusing on the future and making community decisions is something that is present in our community, including outlets for young people to get involved, be engaged, receive support and reach out for help when they need it. Yet, while many of our youth are engaging and rocking full schedules, if you hang around teens, you know that not all feel that sense of connection and well-being a healthy culture strives for. We can help make sure all children feel community belonging and the work of the Southern Kenai Peninsula Resilience Coalition (SKPRC) is focusing on doing just that.
SKPRC is a coalition of local individuals and organizations that envisions a community where all youth feel safe, supported and cared for through positive relationships. How can our diverse community align efforts towards this mission? With Planet Youth (PY) Homer.
As one of the PY Homer work group sessions described it, “PY Homer is a group of people and agencies in the community who want to help youth live their best lives. This grassroots community effort uses a proven model (Icelandic Prevention Model) to create a safe and supportive environment where youth have healthy experiences and get the care they need as they grow.”
September is the kickoff month for PY Homer. The first step to knowing what our youth need is to hear anonymously and directly from them, so all ninth, 10th and 11th grade students at Homer High, Homer Flex, Connections, Raven and IDEA Homeschool programs are invited to participate in a student questionnaire. After hearing youths’ voices, we will then have the opportunity to improve outcomes for young people in many areas of their lives.
It takes all of us being involved for this to work. No one group, club, school, project or otherwise gathering of folks in the community can provide all of our youth with what they need to grow. It takes all of our diverse families, subsects, leaders and programs to provide opportunities where youth will be caught if they fall, will know where to turn when they seek help, and will hold them up when it’s all just too much.
Guardians of ninth through 11th graders: Please be sure to sign the PY Homer Questionnaire consent form while registering in PowerSchool or ask your school support staff how you can opt your student in to participate in this questionnaire. Thanks to support from the Homer Foundation, there are awesome local prizes are available to win for participating students.
If members of PY Homer have not yet connected with you caregivers, please let us know by emailing your information to anna@elementalconsulting.solutions to be added to the PY Homer quarterly newsletter.
Anna Meredith is the youth project manager with the Southern Kenai Peninsula Resilience Coalition. She’s a mother, youth advocate, and grateful member of our community.
