There’s a modicum of apprehension that surfaces when faced with engaging, inspiring, and mobilizing youth. What will the children think of me? Will they wonder why I’m here? What if they think this is dumb? How do I get them to care? I’m sure this feeling is normal, at least for unseasoned aspirants like myself. Community engagement efforts at any level can feel risky. So much hope, vision, and energy goes into the planning process and yet a lingering insecurity remains: will others come on board or will this whole thing profoundly flop? And that’s the hesitant attitude I held going into our first Youth Engagement Meeting.

For my final month at Challenge Detroit, I had the opportunity to choose my own adventure. I was asked to select a topic or organization I was inquisitive about and to design my own impact project around that interest. For my independent Challenge, I opted to work with Hope Community Outreach and Development to shape and launch a youth engagement plan in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood.

And so I sat in the community room, wondering what was about to happen, if things would go well, and indeed, if anyone was going to show up.

My anxieties proved to be grossly unfounded as child after child walked through the door—some giddily animated and others more cautious and reserved—yet each entered with a determination to contribute and get things done. These children did not need to be inspired. When the youth were asked about their opinion on opportunities in the community, their eyes came to light and their imaginations went wild. When faced with the task of identifying needs in their neighborhood, the group became somber, honest, and still strikingly hopeful. By the end of the session, each child enthusiastically agreed they wanted to meet every day to continue working together. And now, only a week later, the group has more than doubled.

These children did not need to be inspired; all they needed was to be brought together and believed in.