A Note From Our Staff

In a world that has been feeling more divided than ever, and that has forced us to distance in order to preserve our physical safety, finding ways to remain connected has become even more critically important to maintaining our overall health. This connectedness comes in the form of being able to stay connected to the internet and other basic needs during times of extreme economic hardship for so many. We are proud to say that through emergency funding from local foundations, we were able to provide $20,000 of basic needs support to help our mentees and their families to weather these tough times through assistance with tablets, groceries, rent, utilities, and educational support.

This connectedness also comes in the form of feeling the power of relationship with a mentor and with peers who can relate to some of the hardships that have only been intensified this past year. We’ve maintained these critical relationships virtually and safely in person this past year that has opened up a whole new world of mentor and mentee engagement with one another including countless tik tok videos, lots of outdoor time, and a variety of online games. We’ve also continued to offer our Peer Group activities monthly including yoga workshops, virtual cooking classes, art projects and so much more. Our mentors have been able to deliver summer and winter care packages to their mentees filled with activities, books, snacks and more to help brighten the day for each youth in our program.  None of this would have been possible without the strong support of the community we are connected to.

Despite all of these positive outcomes, this year has undoubtedly been very stressful for us all. We’ve had to push through significant funding losses, staffing reductions, the trauma of continued racial injustices, and what feels like constant pivoting in order to keep things going strong. One of the things that has kept us going through it all is hope.

There’s a quote about hope from one of my favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” It has been hope that has helped us to continue to innovate and better respond to the changing needs of the youth and families we serve. It has been hope that has had us rethink the way we do thinks and plan ahead strategically for a brighter and more impactful future. And it has been hope that has helped us connect more deeply with those in our BEST Kids family and in our community.

As we close out this memorable year, I urge you all to keep hope forefront and a motivation to continue to care for ourselves and also for others in all we do. We thank you for being part of our family of support and we appreciate how you’ve continued to generate hope for us all over the years, but especially this past year. I wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday season and let’s all hope that next year will bring us even more to celebrate together.

​Krislyn Mossman
BEST Kids Staff
Executive Director