Photo: Communities That Care Logo Contest Winners Presentation  <L-R> Zoey Scott (1st Place), Abbie Baker, CTC Director, Niah Thomas (3rd Place), Cindy Rimmer, Principle Middle Park High School, Olivia Maurais (2nd Place), CarrieAnn Mathis, Technology Department Teacher

Grand County Communities that Care (CTC) Youth Initiative seeks to establish healthy relations between youth and the community by encouraging youth involvement in community activities and decisions. 

A recent countywide CTC logo contest was held, and the objective of the contest was to have youth design a unique logo to represent CTC Grand County. The logo will be used exclusively by the organization in all communications and activities in the future. The Logo should project the inclusion of all segments of the community (family, school and different organizations) working together in harmony, along with what makes our community unique. The contest was for registered school students from K-12 residing full time in Grand County, Colorado.

The contest received 147 entries. The field was narrowed by a selection committee comprised of CTC board members and the final decision was put in the hands of the students of Grand County.  Over 200 votes were cast and Zoey Scott of Middle Park High School won the contest and $100.  

About the Communities that Care (CTC) Youth Initiative

In 2016, the county secured a grant and established a group of educational and business leaders to help guide and foster the local program. Communities throughout Colorado were awarded grant funding to develop programs that made sense for each individual community. Funding for the grant came from the Marijuana Cash Tax Fund and has been administered through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). 

Local Public Health agencies were eligible to receive this non-competitive grant if they had identified mental health and/or substance abuse as a priority in their county. Grand County identified both. Thirty-nine counties accepted the grant in the first round of non-competitive funding, with eight more communities receiving funding in the competitive round a few months later.

“We realize that the youth of our community are the future of Grand County, protecting their health should be a priority,” said Abbie Baker, Public Health Administration and Program Manager.

Baker feels that this is a long-range solution to youth problem behaviors such as substance use. The Community Board will be looking at data to make recommendations, specifically the Healthy Kids Colorado survey completed by students from East and West Grand schools. Some of the questions posed to students included what’s going on in your school, do you have support at home, do you feel safe and do you like to go to school? The Community Board analyzed these responses and the data helped identify the risk factors and protective factors that are predictors of those problem behaviors.

The CTC Youth Initiative seeks to establish healthy relations between youth and the community by encouraging youth involvement in community activities and decisions. “This program is a proactive, inclusive community collaboration that nurtures youth in order to foster their development,” according to Baker. “The logo contest showed how much talent we have in the youth of Grand County. We had a huge selection of really creative pieces to choose from.”

The program is still under development with grant funding that will run through 2021. “The logo contest was another step in the development process.”  Baker added, “Grand Futures may play a role in the direction of the program moving forward.”