Downtown Tucsonan - January 2009 - (Page 11) vital signs Fa m i ly F r i e n d ly W e e k e n d s by Lee Allen reating Family Friendly weekends downtown had been likened to a bag full of options badly in need of organization and direction. and once that happened, the concept moved forward rapidly from idea to implementation. “It was just a week before christmas that everybody involved finally settled on the name of the event,” says Kimberly schmitz of the Metropolitan tucson convention and Visitors Bureau. Rollout of initial Family Friendly weekend activities will begin with a kick-off event on January 24th. while numerous calendars and schedules of activities and events once proliferated, they were scattered and disjointed. Many sought to attract resident and visiting families to downtown, but they did so in separate, isolated ways. city councilman Rodney Glassman was aware that downtown had a lot to offer families with small children, but the information wasn’t getting to its intended audience. “there were plenty of events taking place, but no coordination to get the news of these events to families looking for these types of activities.” so the councilman rounded up a group of decision-makers, including representatives of more than 50 organizations, to discuss how to create strength out of unity by collectively organizing and promoting saturday downtown activities, every week, at a variety of sites. “this was a painless, easy, process to pull together,” Glassman says. ordinarily when working with that many different groups, it’s a bit like herding cats but not in this case. “all organizations with programming downtown were committed to the concept of making downtown as attractive as possible for families. and what we’ve put together, somewhat of a unique prototype I believe, is 52 weeks of programming which includes special events, large scale venues, and restaurants for families with a goal of making downtown a weekend option, year-round.” “we’re focusing on the core downtown area where there will be places to go and things to do for families, great entertainment, unique experiences, adventure activities, and fun learning,” says schmitz. “we’re packaging these events and promoting them together by creating a master calendar, one-stop information source, with details on our web page [www.FamilyFriendlyweekends.org] where individual organizations events and activities will be linked online.” “a key component of this concept is that it’s funded by private businesses with programming supplied by local non-profit organizations,” says Glassman. “It’s a sustainable venture we hope to continue and expand well into the future.” Youth documenting real-life stories. voices C Copy by Ruwaida Alansary, 19, and images by Lilliana Lopez, 17, are the youth assistant editors at VOICES. For more youth stories and photographs, please visit www.voicesinc.org very day newspapers are filled with reporting on youth, but it’s rare that youth report on themselves. when we get to tell our own stories in print, we define for ourselves what it means to be a teenager. this is where VoIcEs: community stories Past and Present, Inc. comes in. VoIcEs is a downtown nonprofit that mentors youth 14-21 in writing and photography so they can document real-life stories. Beginning this month, VoIcEs youth will share their stories with Downtown Tucsonan readers. the columns will be about a wide range of topics, but they will all provide a glimpse into what it’s like to be a teenager in downtown tucson. when I began working at VoIcEs in 2006 I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. all I knew was that I’d be able to write and take photos. But I ended up publishing two stories: one about my experiences with child Protective services and another about rediscovering my spiritual connection to Islam. In publishing those two stories, I gained much more than I had anticipated. I didn’t expect people to care about what I was writing, but I was wrong. the firsthand experience that I wrote not only made a difference in how readers perceived cPs, but also in how they perceived me. Rather than receive assignments like most journalists, VoIcEs youth apprentices write and photograph topics that are important to them. this means that many of the stories written at VoIcEs are from first-person perspectives. our creative process begins with a personal story and connects back to a wider community perspective. at VoIcEs, this is what we call connecting the “I to the we.” the combination of objective and subjective journalism, from a youth perspective, is what makes VoIcEs a divine place. Youth learn the skills to articulate themselves logically, ethically and emotionally. they gain credibility—or trust—to tell the truth, even when it’s hard. My experience at VoIcEs was much more than laptops, more than training, and much more than a social place to hang out. Look forward to hearing these stories about downtown from VoIcEs youth. they are just as powerful to read as they are to create. E january.09. downtown tucsonan 11 http://www.FamilyFriendlyWeekends.org http://www.voicesinc.org
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.