In addition to providing financial support for Blueprint programs, the GLYI is charged with identifying, and where appropriate, supporting effective programs that benefit the lives of greater Littleton youth. While not financial in nature, this support comes in a variety of forms.
Two important community-based programs that the GLYI endorses are The Village Preschool and the Community Suicide Prevention Project (CSPP): Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).
The Village Preschool
The Village for Early Childhood Education strives to engage children in creative discoveries, on-going interactions with people, materials and ideas that promote the development of the child’s mental, emotional and physical growth.
The diversity of the program promotes peer instruction and learning, provides a variety of leadership opportunities and promotes empathy, respect, and understanding of individual differences. Children learn through their play. They plan with the teacher where they will play, they learn to carry out their plan and they review what they have accomplished. Play helps to provide the steps needed to master a skill or to discover new information.
The Village approach to education is based on the individual needs of the children in each classroom. Parents are actively involved in the child’s learning and the assessment of the child’s growth. In addition to parent involvement, community service groups, area churches, and scouts donate and volunteer time and services to the program. Parents and community are actively involved in the management and planning of the program. Parents and community members serve on decision-making policy boards, curriculum committee, PTO, and as volunteers for the school.
The Village assesses and measures the quality of our program a minimum of twice per year with the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale. We use self-assessment tools from our major funders. We gather information from parent surveys, focus groups, and committee representatives.
Community Suicide Prevention Project: Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
The Community Suicide Prevention Project (CSPP) originated in 2004 with a request by Littleton Adventist Hospital to receive help in reducing the large volume of community members coming into the emergency room having attempted suicide: 3-5 per day — three of which were youth. The GLYI responded by finding two of the nation’s most effective suicide prevention/intervention programs, and in partnership with Littleton Public Schools, implemented a suicide prevention pilot project.
That project is thriving today with all Littleton district high schools and alternative schools in full participation. Littleton Adventist Hospital has funded this project at $150,000 over the next three years. Additionally, the project is now growing into the public sector of the community. Although it is difficult to determine the exact impact the project is having towards reducing the number of hospital emergency room visits, there is one early sign of success: each district high school is now receiving requests of help from 4-5 students per month who are feeling suicidal.
Yellow Ribbon addresses general suicide awareness and education, while ASIST provides participants with the skills to intervene with a suicidal person and get them the specific help they may need. The programs are used together as a blanket approach to suicide prevention. It is the hope of the GLYI that one day the Littleton community will “speak one language” of suicide prevention.