The Alliance Project, an initiative of the Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County formed in 2000, focuses on strengthening families, youth and neighborhoods in Carroll through 14 different aspects of the community.

"The Alliance Project incorporates all sectors of the community, but they, in the beginning, felt there was a very strong connection to the faith community in particular," said Stacey Taylor Smith, Alliance Project coordinator. "As a part of that, they recruited a lot of congregations and leaders in the faith community to gather around youth and families."

The Alliance Project is in touch with about 180 congregations in the county, and they receive a quarterly newsletter. Occasional gatherings take place to bring the people and leaders in those congregations together to focus on specific topics, Taylor Smith said.

The Rev. Jerry Fuss, pastor of Emmanuel (Baust) United Church of Christ and a member of the Alliance Faith Community Planning Team, has been with the Alliance Project since its inception. He said he enjoys developing ecumenical relationships through the team.

"For me, personally, I always feel I am enriched because I learn something from somebody else ... I learn how they live out their faith in their life," Fuss said.

Being a part of the faith community team gives congregations opportunities to share resources, network and learn from one another, he said. They could also collaborate on projects that they might not have been able to do as a single congregation, he said.

A survey from a previous faith community team event in April showed positive things for youth was a topic to address.

A workshop next month for clergy, religious educators, volunteers who work with youth in a faith setting and congregational staff is a response to that survey.

Jim Conway of the Minnesota-based Search Institute, an independent, nonprofit organization that works to improve adolescents' well-being, will be the keynote speaker at the workshop.

Research from the Search Institute has shown there are 40 building blocks - or developmental assets - that children need to become caring, responsible adults, Taylor Smith said.

And some of those building blocks are simply common sense, said Lorelei LaFleur, administrative assistant for the Alliance Project.

Examples of assets include having positive relationships with adults, other than one's parents, being actively involved in projects of service to others, being involved in a music program, reading and having a good family system in place, Fuss said.

"Having a significant rootedness in a belief system and a positive relationship and a sense of involvement with a faith community or an organization or a service organization - those kinds of things are all examples of assets," Fuss said.

The workshop not only explores what youth need to succeed, but also what others can intentionally do to see that they do succeed, Fuss said.

One simple example Fuss gave was calling someone by name; doing so makes him or her feel as though he or she is a part of the community, he said. People just need to resolve to do it.

"Most anyone in the pew can say 'I'm going to get to know that kid,' " Fuss said. Simple ways to get to know youth at church would be speaking to them personally each time they're at church, asking about school and encouraging them, he said.

Through simple, intentional actions to demonstrate that community members care about youth, people can build relationships with youth that will ultimately benefit the community.

"The more assets a kid has, the more likely they're going to succeed in school and they're going to want to do well. And they're going to want to do things that keep them away from the risky behaviors and also help them think 'I don't want to do that because I have these other things working in my life,' " LaFleur said.

This multi-faith project is unique in the county.

"There really hasn't been anything that's existed before that is a cross-denominational perspective," Taylor Smith said. "There are ministeriums, but a lot of them are geographically centered. This is countywide and it incorporates every denomination that exists in the community, the idea being that they may not be all on the same foundation as far as their religious beliefs or their spirituality, but one thing that they all do have as a foundation is strength in the community and belief in positive values."

Taylor Smith said congregations help to shape youth.

"They play a very large role in the development of young people in our county," Taylor Smith said. "And we thought it was very important that they understood how they could do that more intentionally and build the potential and the positive attributes [of the county's youth]."

Taylor Smith hopes that the lessons learned at the conference will spread.

"Not only do we want them to understand what youth need to succeed and the 40 developmental assets and how that works in their own congregation," she said, "but the hope is, if we come together as a faith community and collaborate with each other, we can build a stronger community on the whole."

Reach staff writer Jaime Bloss at 410-857-7873 or jaimeb@lcniofmd.com.

'Helping Youth Succeed' workshop

"Helping Youth Succeed: What Your Faith Community Can Do" workshop, presented by the Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County and Carroll Community College, will be held 7:45 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Feb. 20 at Carroll Community College in Room L287. The snow date is Feb. 27.

Suggested attendees include volunteers who work with youth in a faith setting, clergy, congregational or faith organizational staff, religious educators and youth in leadership roles in congregations.

Jim Conway, senior trainer at the Search Institute in Minnesota and an author of numerous books on youth development, will be the keynote speaker. Conway's areas of expertise include early adolescent development, parent education, program planning and assessment and integrating assets into faith communities.

The cost for the half-day workshop is $20 and includes a continental breakfast. Continuing Education Units are available for an additional $5 fee.

Free materials will be provided for each participant, courtesy of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Carroll County Public Library.

To register for the workshop, call Carroll Community College at 410-386-8100. Preregistration and payment are due by Feb. 17. Same-day registration will be available, but preregistration is strongly recommended.

Carroll Community College is at 1601 Washington Road in Westminster.

Those with nonregistration-related questions may call the Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County's Alliance Project at 410-871-6373.

Workshop schedule

7:45 a.m. - Registration, continental breakfast

8:30 a.m. - Jim Conway, keynote speaker

10 a.m. - Break, with breakfast and resource table available

10:15 a.m. - Round Table Session I. Participants may select Round Table sessions they wish to attend:

11:05 a.m. - Break (participants may visit resource table)

11:20 a.m. - Round Table Session II. Participants may select Round Table sessions they wish to attend: 

12:10 p.m. - Adjourn