| An Open Letter I am not certain how you arrived at the UA website, but I am glad you are here. I encourage you to explore the pages of this site. If you do, you will find that UA is comprised of caring and concerned staff that devotes their energies to quality services for young people at risk. These individuals care about themselves, each other, and those who join in their mission to provide opportunities for all to grow and develop through education, training, and service. I have been blessed to travel throughout North America and parts of Europe, visiting programs that serve young people who are aggressive, violent, and at risk of incarceration. There are many fine programs and devoted individuals who serve this difficult population. UA and its dedicated, compassionate, and competent staff are among the best. They offer programs and services to young people such as education, training, community based supervision, and cognitive behavior interventions such as Aggression Replacement Training (ART® ) . They also train other professionals; individuals and youth agencies to provide effective and cost efficient services to the most difficult at-risk youth population. The UA model is unique because of its adult caregivers, but also because they live what they teach and preach by their daily actions. I am proud and privileged to be affiliated with these wonderful human beings. In closing, I am reminded of the great Lebanese philosopher and author, Kahlil Gibran, who provided us with the essence of youth. He affords us with the inspiration to persevere with our mission, as UA does with theirs: On Children by Kahlil Gibran And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he (The Prophet) said: Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable. November 2003 |