Welcome to Serving Locally with Me, your host, Michelle Dynas, podcast where we spotlight service in the Longmont and surrounding communities. All right, let's connect. Hey, welcome to today's episode of Serving Locally with Me. I am here with John Lovell with Habitat for Humanity and I'm real excited about this. I got to work with them a little bit with the Veterans Community Project. And then I think I got in touch with you at the Unity and Community this year. Correct. So that way we can actually get you on here. So we'll just start out with who are you and just give us a little bit of an overview about Habitat for Humanity. Great. Well, thank you, Michelle, for inviting us. My name is John Lovell. I'm the Director of Development for Habitat for Humanity of the St. Rain Valley. We're one of about 1,100 affiliates in the United States of America and we also serve in 70 countries overseas. Oh, wow. I did not know it was that big. Yep. It's been an international organization since its inception. Awesome. Can you give us just a little bit of a background about Habitat for Humanity? Sure. Habitat International was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller and another gentleman named Clarence Jordan. Together they put together the basic principles of a place called Cuenilla Farms, which was an integrated farming community and the whole idea of putting together, having families help build their own homes. A lot of the concepts that we use today in Habitat for Humanity are originally started at Cuenilla Farms. In 1976, we actually became a separate entity. Our affiliate here in Longmont was founded in 1988 and we're actually celebrating our 35th anniversary this year. I am. There you go. Okay. Well, then we've been around as long as you have. That's awesome. So here in Longmont, we also serve our service area, if you will, runs all the way from DeCono Frederick Firestone all the way up to Estes Park. Awesome. What is your focus at Habitat for Humanity? Well, our thing we're best known for of course is our home building program. We have completed 122 homes here in our service area. Most of them here in Longmont. We also have a very active repair program when the floods came in 2013. That was really the genesis of our work there. So we've completed 58 repairs to date. We've got three more underway. As I said, 122 homes. We've got another two that we'll be finishing in January. And then we're starting on 12 new homes here in January on the south part of town. Oh, wow. That's a lot. Yes, it is 12 at one time. Yes. Is it like a community then or are they spread out? No, in this case, it is part of a larger commercial development where we are able to build paired homes with that will be somewhat similar, but not the same to the commercial development that's going on right next to us. So we love it because the families will be integrated into that community and and be part of it from the very beginning. Very cool. Very good. I remember I think we did Habitat for Humanity when I was like my kids is age because my mom was Mrs. Westminster or something when I, you know, 20 years ago. There more than that now. And I think we went and painted some ladies house and did some yard work for her. You probably did what we call the brush with kindness, which is that kind of program, probably with Metro Denver if you lived down in Westminster. There are 21 different habitat affiliates across the state of Colorado and we have a state organization as well called Habitat Colorado that works with our state legislators and things like that. So it's a good close knit family. Very good. Who are you trying to reach with your organization? Well, several folks that we that we focus on. Let's talk about families first. Our families are typically earning between 30 to 60 percent of the area median income. So they're considered very low income families. But they are families that are serving as CNAs in our community. They might be in the manufacturing business or they might have their own small businesses, but that equates to let's call it anywhere between 30 and $60,000 in annual income for those families and that varies depending on family size, things like that. So we're we're serving a segment that could not get any kind of typical financing that you would see in the in our state of the world today. You know, so that's that's a very important part of of what we do. As I say, we're about to start 12 new homes. So we'll be selecting 12 families here in the next year or so that will help build their homes. So a habitat family actually has to put in 250 to 500 hours of sweat equity to build their homes in the homes of their neighbors. Oh, the whole and their neighbors. That's right. So it isn't just their house they're working on because they're all working together. So they get to know one another obviously in a in a very important way. The other part that we really want to focus on especially with with your mission here is that volunteers are absolutely integral part of what we do. We wouldn't be doing this program if we didn't have volunteers as part of it and the benefit there for both the families and the volunteers as they get a chance to interact to meet one another to know who it is that they're serving, which is a terrific thing. It isn't like somebody who's distant from them, but they also find out amazing things about one another like they're on the kids same soccer program, their kids go to our school with the families. So it is a an important breaking down of barriers for folks and as a result of that, we find many of our volunteers also become our advocates. So our board has been very clear in the in the years that we've been around to say we want to make sure our volunteer experience is as good as possible so that they become advocates and ultimately for me donors to our program as they see the benefits and the changes in our families. Absolutely. What makes the work of Habitat for Humanity different than other similar serving organizations? There are very few organizations that focus on homeownership that is our primary focus. So we're part of what we call a housing continuum from every that ranges everything from homelessness all the way up to homeownership and they're those are important steps that we find people go through. So a lot of rental housing in town, a lot of affordable rental housing. That's something we also need in our communities besides affordable housing. So each of those steps along the way are important to serve for a particular time and as people gain stability moving forward to the next step in the home ownership process in our view. So we're excited because those homes they become property taxpayers just like all of us and and really have an important part of clearing the way for more people to become part of the Section 8 program for homeless folks to move into stable housing themselves. That that process is very important to us as well. Helps them through to an end game. Correct. Yeah, that's awesome. And you mentioned earlier that you were part of the Veterans Community Project build. They're amazing. They're it's an amazing program. It's absolutely amazing. But again, that's serving the homeless population of our veterans. Very sad thing. We're excited because Veterans Community Project has for the first time in Kansas City where they were founded. They've had a person go through their program all the way to become a habitat owner and we're hoping for the same thing here. But we also work closely with the in between to identify families that need stability. They've gotten past their their challenge that they're particularly facing and in turn become habitat homeowners and what we've probably had. I want to say eight to ten families come out of the in between work their way through the program and become habitat homeowners. That's awesome. Just just can you walk me through kind of what what it means to be a habitat owner? Like what is what is that? You know, what is that? What does that look like? Is are they paying for the house? Are they like you said their sweat equity? Like what else goes into that? So habitat homeownership is not a giveaway program. It's very important for folks to understand that for your listeners. Habitat helps build a home with family. You know, my job is to raise funds to help facilitate that process. But then they become homeowners. They pick up a mortgage that habitat supplies. And what's interesting is that have that loan is at zero percent. So every penny that they're paying goes to paying down their mortgage, which is something that's been a foundational principle for habitat. And we've we very much adopt that. We have training that they have to go through as part of their sweat equity process. Like financial management, financial management, what is insurance? Things that many of many cases are homeowners. This is the first time they've ever honed a home in their entire family. Do they have like how to take care of refrigerator like maintenance? They get some maintenance training. Typically it's more on the systems in the house. That too. You know, that sort of thing. So we've recently the homes that we're building right next to the veterans community project all have solar power. And that's the first time we've ever done that. That's part of our program. So we're very carefully monitoring with the city of Longmont the benefits of that. But how do I take care of a solar system? We don't have natural gas going into those homes. So how do they handle the electrical system that's required to heat and cool the home in the summer? Just maintenance on a home is something that's not taught. That's correct. And that I'm finding is a bummer because to take that, you know, to not know, you know, just that little bit of education that I know how to do that or what issues to look for to make sure that because that's a huge expense. If your heater goes out and it could have been something super simple that would have been easily. Well, the systems that we're using now as an example, don't do the traditional way that the homes heat. They're they're a combine with the solar system. They are creating not so much more maintenance problems, but different ways of setting the thermostat and how do you do that? And it's the heaters are not in the whole home like we might have where you've got one central air conditioning heating unit. In fact, they're controlled typically by the level of the floor and that sort of thing. So there's there's some unique things that we're trying to do to make the homes a more energy efficient and be long term affordability is important to us, right? They've got a stable known mortgage payment. They're paying their property taxes. They're paying their insurance, but we want to try and keep the energy costs low. And as it turns out in Longmont, we have very stable electrical rates compared to the rates of natural gas and everything else. So energy efficiency has become more and more important to us just as a philosophy. We're also very keen on making our homes accessible. So if you look at our current development, we've got two duplexes that are two story a three bedroom and a four bedroom, but we also have two duplexes that are a single story. So a family can age in place in that home. It's can be excess handicap accessible. We've done certain things to make sure the doors are wide enough to accommodate wheelchair. Those kinds of things are just critically important to the long term stability of our homes. And I think the most recent statistics I've put together of those hundred and twenty two homes, 90 percent of them still have their original homeowner in them. Oh, wow. So and I think the last number was 31 homes have paid off their mortgages in full. So it's it's a program that has a great deal of success that stability can bring about a lot of benefits for the family and the community itself. Oh, we think so. Yes, stay in a place instead of having to move every year or something are the assessed value of our homes currently is thirty one million dollars in this in this community. Wow. So it is creating economic stability for the family and economic benefit to our community. Yes, in many ways. That's fantastic. Thank you for answering that off topic question. Yes, that's right. How does this work? Yes. What along the lines? So you it's a it's a 30 to 60, whatever you said percent or whatever. So there's like a I'm assuming there's an application fee or not a fee, but a application process. Sure. Let's talk about the application process. Yeah, let's talk about that. So a family, we typically have a call out both to our partners like the in between and the center for people with disabilities, things like that say, hey, we're about to start another selection process. We don't have a waiting list. We have an interest list. So a lot of people are familiar with the idea of, well, I put I'm on the waiting list and I'm number two hundred and twenty seven. So that's not how we were. When you apply, we're looking basically for three things. We're looking at do you have a steady source of income? That sort of thing because you're going to pick up a mortgage that you're going to need to pay on. So we're looking for employment history. We're looking at the range, the the area we serve. We look at then. So that's we call ability to pay. Would they be able to do this? Would they be able to afford the mortgage that they'll be picking up? And I can tell you, that's probably one of the earliest areas that families need to fix and come up with that. And we also look at their debt load when we find we have folks that will counsel once that happens. That's a new program in particular that we're starting not just for habitat, but generally for people that are interested in obtaining housing. So we're looking at is their debt load too great that they couldn't take on the the price of a mortgage and we've had folks that have applied with us three or four times, but they get better each time because they're working that debt down and not taking more on wonderful that we look for their willingness to partner. So are they in fact in a place where they can come and put those 250 to 500 hours of sweat equity if it's single mom and things like that. So that's an important part of that partnership with us that we explained that they have to go through these educational programs. All of those pieces are part and parcel with what we're looking for in terms of commitment of the family or individual to be part of our program. We're also looking at their current housing situation. So we have sometimes families that are doubled up or tripled up in situations. They may be in an unsafe environment where they're let's let's just pick one of a trailer that's dilapidated and not safe from a fire perspective that sort of thing or they're living in a basement with no egress windows. Be another example of an unsafe environment that those are all factors in in the selection process. And it's a it's a rigorous process. They'll go through a pretty clear application that talks about, you know, they have to show what their financial situation is. They have to get recommend letters for recommendation from their employer and things like that. So we really are looking for them to be successful. We don't want to put somebody in an unsuccessful position. Just as an example to that end. We have been fortunate to never have had a foreclosure in our situation. The national foreclosure rate for habitat is 1%. So again, we're we're looking for folks to be successful in the long term. And that's that's very important to us that we're putting them in a better place for their family. So that's kind of the selection process. They'll go through interviews with our family selection committee. And ultimately, we let them know if they're going to be selected. That's awesome. Thank you. What are your greatest needs at Habitat for Humanity? First and foremost, volunteers, when I saw service was one of your key points. That was very important that I come and talk about that. That's another function that lands in my particular area. We're building stronger communities. Yes, well, that's good because, you know, we want to build strength, stability and self-reliance in our families. That's one of our key phrases that we tend to use with folks. And that stability being able to do that comes because volunteers are part of that process all along the way, whether they're serving on the job site for a day and you've been out there, you know, it's not like we're going to ask you to do anything that's, you know, you need any special training for. No, you guys have that taken care of. Yes, we we not just thrown together by, you know, your neighbors. It's it's okay. You can you can paint. You can do things that don't require super skills, but then the things that require skills and those certifications plumbing, electrical, you guys have you have professionals and those are those volunteers also. Do they partner in some cases? It's a mixture. You know, we when we started out, it was all volunteers, right? And I mean, habitat had these little house plans that you could use and follow and everything else today. We're very fortunate. We have several volunteer architects in town that helped sign our homes and help them fit in nicely with the community. They understand the the essence, if you will, of making the house affordable to build. Yes, and not having complex things that are very, very difficult to achieve, but our volunteers really make it happen because we have folks that come in and have never used a power solve before. And it's like, oh, I'm scared of that. And one of my favorite stories to tell about that is during the floods, we were fortunate to have the governor and one of our state senators come and visit us a year after the flood and we had a group of women preparing one of our foundations for the home that would be built on top of that foundation. And the governor came over and said, what are you guys doing? And they were leveling the things so that the house would be square and straight and everything. He was just fascinated that this group of five women led by one of our women volunteer leaders was doing this pretty complex task that they learned in a day. So it is something that I always want to encourage people. Don't think you have to have a special skill. Bring the folks from your church. Bring the folks from your business. Bring your women's sharing group or men's sharing group to come and really be a part of this incredible process of building community and doing those things. I like that building community because they're building with the people that are there with the same goal in mind and you make memories and even within your group you're connecting in a different level than what you're like normally doing. So it's good to get out of the box and see where your gifts are and stuff too. And hey, we enjoyed this or we didn't enjoy this, but hey, we still had a lot of fun. That's it. And sometimes your gift is showing up and you need people to carry the boards as much as you do to do the framing, to do those things. Picking up all the nails. Yes, and we do. Yes, all the nails. All the nails.  That's right. And that's fantastic. But there is seriously where we pride ourselves on having a great construction team that understands how to train volunteers and how to get them active and doing valuable things out there. And they had patience and that was very nice because they, you know, they show you and then they kind of watch you for a little bit to make sure you understand what you're doing before they leave you alone. And so that was good. So that way they don't have to go back and redo it or something. So yeah, you want to make sure that you're, you're putting your, putting your, your heart into it. Do you have requirements for volunteers? Sure. To volunteer on the job site, if you're 16 to 18 year old, you need to be there with a parent typically. And there's certain things you can't do like can't ever use and power tools and stuff, but you can help with. Yeah, that's the thing. But their volunteer opportunities are restore as well. We haven't talked about that very much. Let's talk about restores. Okay, so that is a place where we can use younger volunteers about 14 and up for that. Restores another funding source for us in terms of helping us to build houses. And we again, people can donate gently used goods there. Primarily if you go in, we don't do clothing, we don't do televisions, that sort of thing. But we do have great appliances, great furniture that folks have donated to us. We turn around and sell those typically about a third of the market value of whatever we see. You have leftover. I've seen flooring there. Flooring. Yes, we're kind of Home Depot meets Goodwill. You know, we're very blessed to have some great things in the store and it changes all the time. All the time. We do have an online store that you should be aware of. So again, you can get to that by going to our website and looking up Restore and that'll take you to that all the things that are requirements for donating. But that's also a great place to volunteer because our families do also volunteer in there. Especially we had one family that just went in whose the daughter is confined to a wheelchair. And so they just the matter of fact, we just dedicated their home and that was where they did a lot of their service was working in our Restore. So again, we we are very flexible in terms of how you work with Habitat to to make your volunteers. But that's a great place for kids to volunteer to if they've got their things they have to do for school requirements for volunteering. And as they get older, we love to have them on the job site too. That's great. I like that. I think a second thing that we do is try to tell people about our program and to advocate for the need of affordable housing. I mean, frankly, it is the biggest problem we have all along the front range as well as in our mountain communities. That ability to say, look, I understand there's so many misconceptions about people that don't have the kind of housing that many of us are great, you know, granted, blessed to have. And these are the frankly, the working poor in our community. These are folks that you're going to run into doing the stocking at the grocery store. You're going to run into them being the CNA that's taking care of your grandparents. These are the folks that make our communities run. Yeah, quite frankly. So it's very important that we advocate for affordable housing at all levels because there are needs of the homeless. Well, these folks are at the other end of the spectrum. They're ready for home ownership. They're trained how to take care of it. Recently, we've been in several building in several communities where they have home ownership or homeowners associations. So that's something we're training our people in now. How do you participate in that home ownership? How do you do that? What one of the things I'm particularly proud about recently is two of our homeowners have been elected to positions in the city. Well, one is in the city council in Takono and one is on the school board up in Estes Park. Oh, nice. So that's something that's taking that community to heart. That's right. They're becoming a bigger and bigger part of their community and that's what's so important to us is that really makes a difference. I think the other thing that we need to understand about our folks that enter into this program is I mentioned that roughly 90% of our homes are still occupied by their original folks. That's stability that we give their children. So they're not moving every couple of years. Well, and the knowledge that's passed on absolutely that family.  Absolutely, but that's that's invaluable. And I think it's something that we've taken to heart. We have one of our family. Members is now on a full ride scholarship to Duke. We because she had a stable environment. She had a place where she could grow and learn and thrive. We see that in health outcomes too because now we're not they're not an unsafe environment. They're not an unhealthy environment. Those are the kinds of things that are outcomes of having stable housing of having affordable housing. Simple as it is simple as simple as it sounds. It's something that we really take for granted. And so for us to have that it has huge effects on the children in terms of their educational achievement. They're with the same kids all the way through middle school and high school those sorts of things. The other one that's that is not as a parent sometimes is that that stability allows our individuals to progress too. An example would be we built a home I'm going to guess 10 years ago now for a woman who was a LPN. I'm sorry. She was a CNA when she started. She went because she had that stability and the known fixed thing. She was able to go and get her LPN and ultimately her RN and she still serves in this community as a as a nurse. That's the kind of power of these sort of things have. You mentioned about demonstrating for kids one of the very first families we served was a family with nine children. And ever the the family went through the program and today all nine of those children are traditional homeowners. The families the mom and dad are still in the home empty nesters now. But all nine of those children had that example to say this is what I want from my family. How to do it. And they're not habitat homeowners. They're traditional folks that were able to get mortgages because of that. Three of them have become teachers in our community as well. So that's that's the power of having stable home ownership for families that can change their lives. Absolutely. And then in the future of the community in the future in general. That's correct. That's amazing. Absolutely. Wow. I never thought I didn't I didn't think it was that that deep but that foundation is a foundation that's absolutely for generations. That's right. So it's it's something that a lot of people don't appreciate. I guess the third thing you were asking me about you know what do we need is obviously we need donors to make this happen. What I love to tell folks is the dollar that you give us today is going to be invested in a home. That's going to start paying a mortgage to habitat. That mortgage dollar will be reinvested to build more homes. So if that that dollar that you're giving is regenerating for years. Yeah. The things that are important to our families. So we love to say we give a hand up not a handout and that example has was started at Coyonia Farms and continues today. Fantastic. Wow. That's really cool. Do you have any events coming up or volunteer opportunities? We've starting 12 new homes will have a lot of volunteer opportunities. You know color or weather if we we build no matter what we'll be putting in let's see a total of eight of those 12 homes will be putting foundations for those in the ground in January. So we'll start going vertical as the construction guys say and that will that will be when we start to need volunteers a serious number of volunteers and by the summer we'll have eight of those homes it'll be all in various stages of construction. So we'll need lots of people to come help our families build those homes. And again we're we're set up so that we can essentially take groups take individuals we have a group we call the regulars so if they're folks they're you know in retirement or men and women that regularly join us and I think their day is typically Wednesday they come out but we'll take volunteers we typically have volunteers on site Wednesday through Saturday and we can accommodate groups if you have out of town groups so let's say your church has a partnership with another church some place we actually just built a volunteer center in the basement of our building that we can accommodate up to I want to say 15 people and for a week to eight weeks so we bring in groups like AmeriCorps who have regular things we bring in a collegiate challenge groups who are kids on an alternative spring break and we can accommodate them in our facility to be able to volunteer with us for a longer period of time so that's been a major like a dorm setting is that kind of what you're talking about? We've got two bunk rooms so right on we've got two bathrooms down there with showers so they can clean up afterwards we have washing machines so they can do their clothes and a full kitchen oh wow so it's just spend a week in you can spend a week and serve that's fantastic and we like that we're kind of trying to work with other folks to let them know about that so that's a new thing for us we just actually finished our big fundraiser of the year which was our gift of home tour and we are always looking for sponsors for that but that that event entails essentially us working with some decorators and such to decorate four homes in the community and we're always looking for new homes especially historic homes that want to be part of this show off their place the decorators will come and decorate the home for Christmas they can buy things from those decorators that sort of thing and the ticket price goes to us and sponsorship dollars go to us to help put the event on so that's a fun that's our biggest fundraiser at this point in time I've been sharing that gift of home good yeah thank you so much there was like chocolate like sponsor candy cane or something yeah so I was like oh it's very Christmassy one of the folks that works for me does that and has done a great job with it so and we really appreciate our decorators that put in a lot of time and effort to make those it's just been a a really good thing it's been in the community for over 55 years now so we just recently got it and we think it really matches well with our mission of affordable home ownership we also always try to smile have a habitat home in there so people can see what's a habitat home look like if they've been involved it's a house yeah it's a house looks like a house and it's beautiful so that you can live in yep for sure probably you know like I think maybe people yeah it doesn't look like it's just manufactured and put together absolutely it's an actual you know it's no there you know we're in the process right now of working through right now we're doing this next project will be duplex homes as I say but in a duplex home community we've got another project we're working on that hopefully will be 30 single family homes oh wow because that's what the neighborhood is about so it's not cookie cutter houses absolutely not that's why we that's why we have architects that that's fantastic that are part of our process because we really want that home to be that family's home pride yes well I think that's the thing if we have pride and ownership of our homes our families have exactly that same pride that same desire to have a community that's beautiful that's a great place for kids those are all part of the same desire yeah and for some reason that's why advocacy is important for us we want our volunteers to meet our families yeah we want them to see they're no different they had the same desires as every one of ours yeah wow that's that's really touching thanks I really like it a lot I was talking before about going in helping spruce up people's yards or paint their fences fences or whatever can you tell me more about that program sure right now our critical repair program really is focused on the Glenn's neighborhood in de Kono okay and so that's a program that's a part of our bigger neighborhood revitalization program we have been blessed to be a testing bed for many concepts on neighborhood revitalization for habitat overall okay so we do have we currently just do repairs in this particular community and we've been able to obtain funding from several sources so that the homeowner in this case pays 10% of the cost of the repair and then we bring our staff and volunteers in to help fix those homes up that started out with a program called to brush with kindness we don't do too many of those anymore but the fact of the matter is there's such a need for repairs we're looking about the best ways to expand that program to other parts of our service area but at this point in time we're really focused down in the Glenn's but we'll see where that goes awesome see where what happens with it that's good that's fun to have that that's expanding that that's that you're testing out new things and figuring out ways to help in different ways well and that's I think what's what's interesting about that is when people move into home the reasons the Glenn's was chosen is it's largely a manufactured home area and so those trailers have sort of have a shelf life and what we're doing now is we're able to go in in that program and make them handicapped accessible put wider doors and build a ramp for somebody so they can age in place the folks that live in the Glenn's love that community love being there but I can't tell you the number of floors we've replaced in homes that have just worn down over the years of being there where a bathtub might have worked before now we'll rebuild a shower and do the plumbing work to to make it so that it can be accessible in a walk or a wheelchair that's that's an important thing that we've learned a lot about in the last five years that we've been doing that program down there and we hope we can find a way to extend it to other communities that we serve but it's more people served it's keeping people in their home that's the important part of of our critical repair program and safely and safely yes sustainably yes I like that a lot awesome so how can people contact and find out more about habitat for humanity of course I'll share everything sure being my QR code I'll put it out everything in the description but go ahead and just so so in a ways we obviously have a website so that's saintbrainhabitat.org all one word saintbrainhabitat.org if you come out and volunteer that you could go to that website first of all and volunteer we have a little button says I'd like to volunteer but it'll take you to our volunteer page you can sign up online we'll communicate with you do we have a release that you sign that says hey we can take your picture if you're working that day but more importantly you know liability waivers and all that kind of stuff that we have the other way is to call our office we I have a volunteer coordinator whose job it is to make sure we get people and groups and stuff in and you can do that by calling<PHONE_NUMBER> and you'll be prompted for what you want to do and that'll get you to the right folks to get you signed up you guys have Facebook and Instagram of Facebook we have Instagram all the all the things but the the website serves as our main volunteer portal if you will awesome that's all fantastic you say groups come in do you is it just they just come in and they or do you have like a program that like facilitates like group building or absolutely talking about yep team building kinds of program so a lot of our corporate partners here in town bring out teams every year some of them bring out two or three teams every year which we're thrilled about we don't charge you to volunteer at all but we do have a program that's called an adopt today so we know we spend about twenty five hundred dollars every day in terms of materials and stuff to build a home that's not labor hours no just material just material got it so it is that's one of the ways that a corporation or a church can help us is to adopt today they they pay for the materials that'll be used that day and that's that's something that is very easy to do we start every morning with a safety talk so you learn okay this is what we're going to be doing today and things like don't fall on the holes don't fall on the holes don't back don't walk backwards on the construction site because you're bound to trip then and that starts the morning we then do break into teams and you'll learn individual safety things so if you're using a chop saw you know you'll get instruction from one of our volunteers or one of our staff and how to use that safely how to do the work how to measure things so that you're not cutting multiple things multiple times and then you're off and running on whatever task you've you've been assigned or volunteered for for that we take a lunch break if it's a team build part of the benefit of a team build is both you get t-shirts and you get lunch so that's incentive but then during that time we actually run through a thing called we call habitat 101 which shares with you what is our program about some of the things we've talked about here we talk about in greater detail during the lunch hour then we'll get back to work and usually we're wrapping up by 3 34 o'clock so that's kind of what our work day looks like right now we're starting at 9 o'clock because it's a little cold and dark at 8 but during the summer we'll go 8 to 3 4 o'clock and then in the winter more like 9 to to 3 3 30 awesome is there anything else that you'd like to add to the conversation maybe that I've missed or you just feel that you have a passion to talk about for a little bit well I think it's you know I've weaved in some stories that that we have about our families stories makes the whole thing it's it's what you know I was a development guy you know people say I must be awful raising my nose it's I really look at it is is part of the purpose in my life and I spent geez 30 years or so in the in the corporate world and began volunteering for habitat back then but I really you know the thing I enjoy about this is really a purposeful life it's something that I get to share the good news about what's happening in our community and whether that's here in Longmont up in Estes Park out in the the Carbon Valley area habitats doing tremendous work in our community and we've been blessed with resources but as I've heard one of the pastors say thank you Lord for what you've given us it's not enough we have more to do and that's something I really take to heart we're blessed to be part of this community we have been for 35 years so for us it's really a way that we can serve serve people of all face and all beliefs so for us it is critically important that we do that service well and whether that be with folks that volunteer with us for a day or become part of our regulars whether it's somebody that gives us $25 a year or $10,000 a year those are folks that make the difference for our families and that's the one thing I think I could say as a person who's been in this role for 10 years those those dollar investments that people make change lives and change them on a permanent basis and change generations to come absolutely that's fantastic well thank you so much John for coming on the show well my pleasure and thanks for the invitation absolutely I'm glad to track you guys down because I did the veterans community project was my very first episode and so then when I went and did help them on their build day might I met maybe you or somebody on while we were there and I couldn't track you down but I'm so glad that we were able to connect and and get this taken care of now well it's it's great and I'd say you know we're we're happy to partner with many folks in the community and it just makes such a difference and doing the right thing come out and build with us next time we get started next I'm looking forward to that that'll be awesome cool thank you John for talking to us about habitat for humanity and hopefully you guys get some more get some more volunteers you guys yes it's a lot of fun it really is and you get to learn learn different skills and that can you can use in your life in your home set too so if you're struggling with something like volunteer and come learn about it that's a great way to hands on do that that's absolutely true all right thank you John appreciate thank you for having Michelle appreciate it yeah thank you to my guests my listeners and my supporters serving together we can strengthen our community please like and subscribe do all those other things you know you got to do them because that's the easiest way that you can serve right now all right now go connect with others and be a blessing


Now we're going to proceed with the presentation of an opinion, in an opinion exactly about homelessness, eradicating homelessness in the European Union, the local and regional perspective, its opinion unknown initiative. The rapporteur is our colleague Miko Altonen, and now I give him the floor for the presentation for five minutes. You have the floor, Miko. Kiitos puheenjohtaja. Arvoisat kollegat, olemme käyneet laadaa erittäin rikastuttavaa keskustelua komissarismitin ja financean puheenjohtaja Larssoni kanssa. Otan lausunnon pääkohtia, ei ole varmaan tarpeen tässä toistaan. Keskustelun aikana monet kollegat käyttivät puheenvuoroja, ja niistä kävi hyvin ilmi, että komitean jäsenet tuntevat tilanteen hyvin ja tuntevat tilanteen vakavuuden. Mielestäni hyvä lähtökohta jatkotyölle asunnotto muuden poistamiseksi. Tässä vaiheessa haluan myös kiittää kaikkia muutosehdotuksia esittää näitä kollegoja. Kuten muutosehdotuksista koskevasta kannastani, nämä esitteliä muutosehdotuksista voidaan nähdä. Olen ottanut huomioon valtaosaan ehdotuksistaan joko kirjaimellisesta tai hengessä. En kuitenkaan voi hyväksyä muutosehdotusta kuusi, koska se ei kuullut tämän lausunnon soveltamisalaan. Asiantuntijani, ysäityjen toimitusjohtaja Juha Kaakista, sedekevaliokunnan sihteeristöä ja poliittista ryhmääni tuesta. Kiitos. Kiitos. Mikko, meillä ei ole mitään suurua. Nyt ei. Ei, meillä ei ole. Mikko, en tiedä, jos haluaisin ottaa jotain asioita, puheenjohtaja, voin ehkä todeta sen, että äsken käytyy hyvä keskustelu, ja olemme asioista ilmeisen samaa mieltä, niin haluan vielä kerran kiittää kaikkiaan sitä keskustelusta. Kiitos. Nyt me olemme ihmisille. Kiitos. Nyt me olemme perustuneet debatioon 2022 Euroopan vuoden vuodessa. Meillä on erilaisia asioita. Haluaisin asioita. Mielestäni, asioita, olemme huomioon Euroopan yhdessä perustuneen 2022 Euroopan vuoden vuoden vuodessa. Yhdessä yhdessä yhdessä Euroopan yhdessä. Tällä päivänä on tullut koko ajan. Nyt me olemme koko ajan. Meillä on yhdessä koko ajan. Meillä on koko ajan. Meillä on koko ajan. Meillä on koko ajan. We have an additional opportunity to work together with the young generation in shaping our European future, because they are indeed the future of Europe. So I would like also to draw your attention to the core initiative, the core program for young elected politicians which we intend to pursue and further develop because it is a greatly enriching and mutual beneficial exercise. Let me also mention the European Youth Capitals, an initiative that recognizes the achievements at the local level in our cities and municipalities to respond to youth needs and aspirations and for the empowering young and boosting youth participation. So to ensure a long lasting legacy of this European Year of Youth, we need to mainstream a youth perspective in all policy areas at EU, national, regional and local levels and to involve youth, more young people in decision making at all these levels. At this occasion we also welcome the recommendations from the young elected politicians. Finally, I would invite all our commissions to take note of this year and to contribute to its success by integrating the youth perspective in their works in a meaningful way. I assure you that the Committee of the Region stands ready to team up with other partners to deliver on the common objective of empowering youth, fostering youth participation and improving the well-being of our young generation. And without further delay, I would welcome Silja Markula, President of the European Youth Forum, our first guest speaker today. Thank you so much for accepting our invitation. We are really glad to have you here. You're also a member of our high level group on democracy. You chair one of the working group of the Conference on the Future of Europe dealing with youth policies. So it is my great pleasure to give you the floor and to give you the floor for five minutes. Silja, you have the floor, five minutes. Thank you very much for the floor and thank you to the Committee of the Regions for inviting me to speak today at your plenary session. This is a very great pleasure to be here. My name is Indeitya Markula and I'm the President of the European Youth Forum, the largest platform of youth organizations in the world. We represent over 100 youth organizations and youth platforms from across Europe and represent millions of young people from across Europe. And I'm delighted to be here to participate in this debate on the Year of Youth and share ideas on how together we can make this year a resounding success. We often hear that we as the youth, that we are the future, but let me also recall that we are the present. We are here and our lives matter as much as those of the older generations. Now, turning to the resolution of the Committee that you have drafted, it seems that we are speaking with the same voice and I agree wholeheartedly with many of the points that you have included and emphasized in your views. In particular, the focus on ensuring that the year is truly inclusive is key. Every young person in Europe should know and feel that this is a year for them. We can achieve this both through providing young people with accessible opportunities to participate at all levels and through taking forward meaningful policy change. We know that young people have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left our education, employment, mental health all at lasting risk for our generation. Now that we focus on rectifying this picture during the year of youth, this will be very crucial using the year as an opportunity to really recover from all those different things. For instance, by banning unpaid internships, making sure that the transition from education to employment is much smoother and easier for young people. It would also send a clear signal to Europe's youth that even in these precarious and uncertain times, we deserve access to quality, well-regulated employment opportunities. We also know that young people's priorities are wide-ranging from, as I said, employment, to climate, to health, to the economy, just to name a few areas, and therefore it will be important to involve multiple DGs in the implementation of the year. Most relevantly for this debate, of course, DG Regio, we ensure that the budget for actions comes from multiple programs beyond the two EU youth programs. This would allow young people to participate at all levels and at all the different areas of topics that concern our lives. Given this cross-cultural nature of youth policy, I agree with the importance of ensuring that a legacy of this year is the mainstreaming of youth actions across all policy areas at all levels, including the local and all EU programs. We have also seen the power of the Committee of the Regions local dialogues in establishing these two-way discussions with young people and decision makers on the EU political agenda. I would like to invite the representatives to continue to draw and build on these mechanisms during the year and bring in people's views and their local perspectives to EU decision makers and indeed all policy areas at local level. I appreciate the Committee's continued support of the European Youth Capital Initiative and I agree with your reflection in the resolution that complementarities between the initiative and the year of youth should be sought to reinforce their mutual effectiveness and outreach and bring all that important local perspective to a European level. We also agree with the importance the resolution places on using this year as an impetus to improve youth-specific data collection at all levels for youth by policy and decision makers. We're interested in the work of the Committee of the Regions that you're already doing on local data collection such as your study on the local implementation of the youth guarantee and we believe there's further opportunities like this where we could collaborate. At the European Youth Forum we're looking forward to continuing our very close collaboration with the Committee of the Regions next year and to seeing the implementation of the exciting and meaningful elements in resashed in your action plan for the year. We believe that you're a key partner in particular to ensure that a strong local perspective is brought and champion during the European year of youth. This will ensure maximum outreach to young people, to my generation at all levels and the delivery of a year that leads to a truly lasting meaningful change which goes beyond just the year of 2022 and gives us a true legacy for the year of youth. Thank you very much. Well, thank you so much. We don't want to thank you. So now we're going to proceed with the floor and the floor goes to Vitautas Brubliowskas, Mayor of Klaipida. You have the floor. Four, five minutes. Thank you so much, Chair. I will use the opportunity to speak in Lithuania. It's not so often, but sometimes it happens. Thank you so much. So Klaipida, six months, given the European Youth Organization's rhythm that it is necessary that the initiative and the map of the local area will be taken into account twice. Antrasis Bualimingas and the European Forum will be taken into account in the European Union in 2021, Klaipida. So we have a vision and a plan. Now we can see how Klaipida will be in the next year and how it will be in the future. We will be able to take into account those programs but also those programs in Korea and in the EU. We will be able to identify those issues that will be identified in the EU as a candidate for this title. So all the titles in the EU were already new in the EU initiative in Korea, both in the EU and in the EU. We will be able to implement social, political, cultural projects and the foundation of this project. So let's start. How will the EU-organisation, the EU-organisation and the European Union, represent the EU-organisation and the EU-organisation as a candidate for the EU? It is symbolic, that in the 21st, Lithuania was the first country to be legislated in the 25th century and in the 26th, Lithuania was the first country that will be given Per 2000-2011-tusi igivendiin on me daugioon, kuten 400 vaikeudellaan. Festivali, Jounimun iniciativu, Gebeimu, Stiprinimu veiklu, vizito- ja pristatimu, diskusi- ja sustikimu ja norsu järjestelmä, ceremonija ja joulut ja scepti-niolikta. Kiteisiin mätäksi programma, nautita DAR per 510 vaikeudellaan. Kokei risultaata matamme. Suomuoto, naujebändradarbeimu kultura. Haisi kai parodokat sprindimaa del Jounimu tai Jounimu, ne busprimami. Atvirumas labaisvarbus, turima ilgamete, specialistu patirtis. Be jaunateuskas maksimalijumas adneisa puikiusresultatos. Uistikirntas Jounimaporeikus ja tinkanssi Jounimapolitiikosstrategios ja jivendiimas kartu sumiesto-pletro-strategia. Uismäkstas tiesiogenis-dologas, termiesto- ja Jounimu. Beisukurtos ilgaleikies, kuren sosiaali- ja poliitiikkia aktiivia Jounimu-pendrominen. Matumie geräinti savanoristias ilvezdi. Jok savanorista vertena mateigemai. Primaan savanorisorganisaatios puikii, presidada, formodamas praktika. Traukti savanoris netikkii jivendiimo-prosesus. Tačiau ikuribos-prosesus taipakku. Turime dauggeru-pavizjuu. Kei piuniismonis, savanoristas-pagalba ja kalingu-professiinen veiklaibii tampe-primansi-organisaatio-darboteis. Pasiakkaimme pavieni, neorganizota Jounimaa ja gyvennänne mihinkään ambassaduri-initiitiva. Suformaamme aktiivu Jounola-judieima ja kuriin sitraukia dažniausien nektivus Jounimas. Taipa skatino. Ja vaihres Jounimai patraukkia bendravima ja reiklu-formas. Ambassaduri, taipa tapo leibais varbe projekto- ja gyvenninimo-initiitiva. Kuri biškumui projektometu, johon Jounimas draseu-jängä saavu ideju ja gyvenninimo-link, domisi projektorengimous-subtilibimis ja deda-pastangas, ideas-poverstire-libi. Ja dažnu-atviju, tuotiemsi, johon olemis pireikki, tyk-padrasinimo. Dabarturime suformuota Jounimu-bendromine, kuri siek-erkitais-mätaisi vaihriu projekto-finansaimu-fondu-pagalba ja gyvennintiprojektu. Tai didelis-pasiakimas, kaematumia ženglu-pokitiligina su 2008-mätais. Jounimas gali organizuoti saavu-renginius veleisti laikossa druugais, grafiti menu, kuri nivu, tai patnoja platforma, johon grafiti meni kai gali teikti saavu-pasiulimus, poisti grafiti pechineisi siulomaismiestot-pasiinas pagalba, kuri mennoujas traukosvietas mieste. Noujosimon traditiios tokei festivali ja vaeruusrenginei, kuri hieman omatitas testinumasi ja skirti buntianti-onimui, kuri nouja mieste kurss-projektus mieste ja gyvendiina ja jouunima urian potusprojektus. Täällä vaiheera janklasi, siekentiö miesto, kun tuntuu niemiä gyvenime, jouunimuii buntuskirjama, kodougeu dimese. Miestä tei patskirjama, douk dimeseu, mažinan, sosiaalinen, askirti, kisopatirjoisimionimui. Vizdougeu miesto, istargoilaisvaloike, laidimu, vietu, labiopreinomasiivare, sniagalästurjensimionimui. Viisiäms, didonomatoleransia, ugdoma empatiä ja jouunimuari miesto bandromines, tämän skaiciuja ja LGD-PT-atstovams, useniettiams, tautniams mažumuams, priklausanssimionimui. Visi klei pedos, kai pyörämpi, jouunimasosnies, 21-maismätäistikslei, puikeetsis pindi possektorezultatasi. Viikdemikartusupartnien smatomi, jo klei pedos siekii, su tampasut daugiolle netikiletavoja, beteuroropos miestus siekii. Tät esimet virit ja norimmedalintis possektorezultatais. Gerosumis, patirtimis, biikomokomis, kurjuiis mokemi givendini shitikilet. Net ne bijo jääme. Jo projektas da rilgai da risiitaka miestu givendimu urnepsiribos tiktoa. Lietuvos, jouunimasos, niin siitivaa startua jokitaismätäistat klei pedos, lietuvai, atneštaini siitivagivos, ilgai. Ja galima da riti išvada, jo katit hiei, netiklaipeda, kurja tehtiä slavui. Achu, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, your colleague. And now it is my pleasure to welcome Lidia Praira, she's a member of the European Parliament and president of the Youth of the European People's Party. Lidia, you have the floor for three minutes. Hello, good morning and thank you very much for the kind invitation to be here. As a young politician, as president of the Youth of the EPP to discuss the commission's proposal to make 2022 the European Year of Youth and of course take the opportunity to draft to welcome the draft resolution that will be voted after this session. Well, today the EU is facing long-term challenges in both digital and environmental transitions that will have a significant impact in the shift that our societies work. So the decisions we take today will have a tremendous impact on younger generations and those that are yet to come. Just as establishment of the Erasmus program in 1987 was one of the most successful EU projects the EU must be able to involve its younger generations in such wide and accepted programs. With Erasmus young people understood the needs for further European integration, the complexity of European history and culture and the benefits of the single market. Now the EU must ensure that these young generations trust and believe in the EU's capacity to shape their future in a sustainable and prosperous way. The European Year of Youth should have exactly the same to reconnect to the EU's youth with all levels of EU policymaking. Just as Erasmus was only successful due to the intense work of universities, so at the local level, future policymaking in the EU will truly connect with its youth if it allows them the ability to influence the EU's policies through their local and regional authorities. Therefore, I believe a stronger effort must be made to hear the concerns of young people regarding their post-pandemic future and facing the digital and environmental transitions. Increased contact with local authorities makes it easier to collect data on young people which is scarce today, as well as ensure the EU explores not only the relative similarities between young people but mainly the differences between them. And this is the only way we leave no one behind and ensure that marginalized youth feel their future is somehow safeguarded. 2022 should also be the year where EU policymakers truly understand the need for the inclusion of an intergenerational fairness strategic thinking on most European policy areas. Knowing the impact policies being drawn will have on future generations with rigorous assessments should be in the heart of the policymaking. When taking decisions, politicians must be held responsible, held accountable on how their decisions reflect on life conditions for younger generations. So this is the message I wanted to leave to your debate today. And once again, thank you very much for the invitation and I'll be here to follow your work and to keep working with you. Thank you very much. Well, we are the ones who thank you so much for your insights and for taking the time to share with us your views. Thank you. Now I will give the floor to Alicia Omsgin-Ginnell, president of the Young European Socialist. You have the floor for three minutes. Thank you very much, president, and thank you very much for the invitation to this plenary of the Committee of Regions. I think this European year of youth is our opportunity to change a structural reality. Europe has a whole generation, its best-prepared generation, trying to build its own life project. Something complicated when you don't have future prospects. My generation grew with the 2008 financial crisis, whose consequences we still dragged when the COVID-19 pandemic was yesterday. A pandemic that not only has highlighted the precariousness in which we were installed, partly because of the political mistakes of austerity, but it has caused problems such as mental health, that although they were not so obvious before, they were already among us. In this European year of youth, what we have to do is speak directly with all those young people and those young people without economic or educational prospects. Because the success of Europe in the end is the success of those who have less opportunities of emancipation and, unfortunately, they tend to have, in these cases, a face of youth. I think we can't continue with a youth unemployment rate like the one we currently have and we can't continue discussing about the future of Europe with a whole generation doubting their own. I think that, in the end, this European year of youth can and has to go further. We have to integrate all those young people and those young people in this project, making youth policies a horizontal priority incorporated in all the policies of the Union, since the COVID-19 crisis affects education, employment, mental health, and all the economic income of all and all the young people. I think we should continue to create quality jobs, taking advantage of the potential of green and digital transitions, to ensure fair salaries and access to social protection, to end up with non-remunerated practices, to guarantee access to a dignified and affordable housing, which you mentioned in the previous point, to combat structural discrimination that we still suffer from in wages and minimum income, and recovery goes on to tackle all these problems that have, in turn, a common axis, which are anxiety, anguish and depression generated by young people. I think that's why mental health has to be in the center of this year. We have passed the silence to the debate, and now we have to pass the debate to action. This year we have the opportunity to build a future for those who are trying to build their own vital projects, and I think we should not forget that there is no future for Europe without youth. Thank you very much for the invitation. I thank you not only as a deputy in the European Parliament, but also as president of the youth of European Socialists, and I hope that the resolution you have will benefit everyone. Thank you very much. Thank you. Here you are. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you very much. In Laimak, the European Liberal Youth, we aim to encourage young people to be active citizens and promote opportunities to bring change to their societies. We therefore welcome the initiatives a lot. We strongly believe that people with fewer opportunities should also get the chance to be part of the discussions and be able to shape the future, and Asylja pointed out the present of Europe. We want the year of the youth to be the year where young people are included at the table for major decisions, starting with the outcomes on the conference on the future of Europe. A structural dialogue between the EU institutions and youth organizations towards youth and future-oriented policies has to be the next step. As the future of Europe is especially important to us, we worked hard to gather young Liberals from across Europe and collect the proposals for the conference. We are very eager and open to future discussions. One of the proposals that was put forward by us is similar to the youth entrepreneurship in your initiative. We very much welcome this step towards giving youth the tools to take chance into their own hands and removing barriers and dealing with youth unemployment. But we should not stop there. The removal of protectionist policies and additional barriers for young people that they face when entering the job market has to be tackled to. Finally, we acknowledged it nowadays, youth has a great knowledge of society that is more informed than the previous generations due to digitization and increasing connected society. That is why we propose to lower the voting age to 16 for the European elections. This way young people gain a stronger voice in policymaking. Topics such as education, youth employment, sustainable and future-oriented policies would be given a higher priority than the political agenda. I would like to conclude my remarks with the message that is very central to our Lymec and my own political efforts. Youth should be able to do more than just propose ideas. We need to also be included in decision making and I'm very thankful for the invitation to speak here and I'm very much looking forward to the next generation in the year of the youth but hopefully also beyond that. Thank you very much. Thank you Ines. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. Now I will give the floor to the President of the European Free Alliance Youth, Valentina Cervella Clavel. She's online. You have the floor. Four, three minutes. Thank you very much for having me and thank you as well for my colleagues who have needed points and comments. As we're talking about the European Year of the Youth, I think from the European Free Alliance we want actions. We're tired of just listening. It's the Year of the Youth. We want you on board. We want to be working with you but we need actions now. As my colleagues have mentioned, our generation has been inherited a crisis since 2008. My childhood home in 2009 due to the economic crisis and since then my starting life hasn't been the same. Now we're inherited a crisis from the COVID-19 and expectations for young people to either buy a house, find a job or even just have the life our parents so much talked about. It's not looking good. I had to emigrate from Barcelona to Glasgow because Barcelona barely had any options for me. I couldn't study and I couldn't work in the place that I grew up and that I loved. So I moved to Scotland where I was able to study for free just because I'm European and since my four years in that country I just fell in love. But this is something that I wish I hadn't had to do. It's something I wish I could have done in my country next to my family and my friends. Education should not be a privilege. Education should be a basic need. And across the European continent we found that that's not the case. We found that more people and more young people have to sacrifice whether earning money, going to university and putting themselves in debt or just starting working in a precarious job. We want to have a seat on the table but only to be listened but be taken into account. We're tired of just being listened and saying you are the future. We are not the future only. We are the present as well. And we found that every time we're inheriting governments and more precarious situations that are not working for us and yet we find ourselves with the issues. When we think about the climate change crisis it was young people who led the conversation. It was young people who raised the voice for the world to see our planet was dying. When we think of the protests in Belarus or in the Catalan referendum it was young people at the forefront of those protests because we understand the changes that needs to happen in our future. The system right now is not working for us. We are falling through the cracks whether you are a minority, stateless nation or just young from any part in Europe the system right now doesn't work for you. So I really thank you for having us today and listening to us but please take us into account. For a work where we can cooperate and create a better world for not only the youth now but the youth to come. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you for being with us. Now I will give the floor to Eleanor Morrissey. She is a co-spokes person of the Federation of Young European Greens. Eleanor, you have the floor for three minutes. Thank you. Can you hear me? I think my camera is working. Yes, we can hear you. We cannot see you but we can hear you. Well I think that's okay then if I can just speak. So the European Review is an opportunity to put youth priorities on the political map but we need young people's involvement from the very start. So I thank the Committee of the Regions for this opportunity to speak on behalf of FIEG and of young people fighting for a democratic and inclusive Europe. We are concerned that this year of youth will result in a lot of stylish campaigns but very little substance because 2021 was the European year of rail and unfortunately that didn't go too far. As young people our lives are defined by our youth where we want to be taken seriously in politics to be respected and given rights in the workplace to even be able to afford a decent home. We are the first generation that is worse off than our predecessors. Most of us will never be able to own a home in our lifetime. Since 2008 young people are facing precarity because any job is better than none. But this has left us with unpaid internships, gig work and zero hour contracts. The situation has only gotten worse in the pandemic and young people who are already vulnerable have now dropped out from education or the quality of education is lower.  So all of this precarity is resulting in mental health and wellbeing issues amongst us young people. So without concrete actions the European year of youth will only remain as youth washing. And currently the European Commission promises the schemes to improve access to work, training and education. But these schemes overlook people from small cities and rural communities. Migrants and those from low socio-economic backgrounds. And we are also concerned that the core funding for young people such as Erasmus Plus and the European Solidarity Corp. will be limited of the EU promises as new schemes to only benefit a few. So we completely agree with you that the year should not be limited to young people from EU member states but should also involve young people from the UK, from the western Balkans and EU partnership countries. And we support the initiative from the Committee of the Regions to promote youth participation in local democracy. As we believe decisions that impact every citizen's life should be taken at the level closest to them. And we believe direct democracy can help show young people how they have the power to influence politics at the local level. So we support more power given to local and regional governments. But with this more young people and marginalised people should be involved in decision making. So we need to remove the barriers that prevent people from taking part whether it is economic or social discriminations to be tackled. So youth organisations from the European level to local groups need to be strengthened through training and support so they can participate meaningfully. And we want to see the outcomes from the European Year of Youth exist beyond 2022 because we are not the next generation but the current generation. So I appeal to the Committee of the Regions to follow these closely and to bring these initiatives to young people at the local level. And we look forward to following the outcomes of your resolution and work. Thank you. Thank you so much for being with us. Now I will give the floor to one of our young elected politicians Sandra Schnilok. Sandra, you have the floor for three minutes. Welcome. Thank you so much. Dear chair and dear members of the Parliament of the plenary. Hello and good morning from Cologne. I'm happy to introduce the recommendations of the elected politicians of the this year's YAP program. We prepared these recommendations with knowledge from all across Europe, from program members being from rural areas and big cities as well and everything in between that Europe regions have to offer. To build a bridge between the YAPs and the plenary today my YAP colleagues were wise or maybe funny enough to choose their oldest member me to present our recommendations so I'm even more delighted to be able to present the younger generation of local politicians in the debate today before I stop being concerned as young. Experience is not only measured in years but also in the knowledge that you are able to acquire. So knowledgeable young people can make older generations quite uncomfortable but please put any prejudice aside. The young elected politicians have major insights into the challenges and needs of the citizens and their communities and should be heard in all opinions of the committee of the regions and in the European Parliament. We prepared 19 recommendations that I trust you all read so I just want to highlight a few of them. In building resilient and inclusive communities we call for action for the European Union to provide an empowering and accessible framework for citizens to help them find sustainable solutions for the individual life situations especially for young people and vulnerable groups. We also call upon the EU to encourage member states to establish participatory processes for young people at local and regional level on their priorities for resilience building that fits the specific characteristics of different regions. We also call for sufficient funding for digital transformation and transition especially for remote and rural areas to ensure the widespread and efficient internet structure. Digital education to enhance digital skills and we also encourage women to go into STEM careers and to have them at every table where decisions are being made. For a lively democracy European democracy we call on the EU to initiate and support regular initiatives such as the conference on the future of Europe including young local and regional decision makers and a permanent dialogue with citizens and not only during election time. For best practice sharing between young leaders we ask for a political erasmus program for young elected politicians to be supported and implemented by the EU. And for jobs and education for young people we want training, internships and apprenticeships opportunities at the EU level and make cross-border work easier when people work in one country and live in another. We also ask for promotion of cooperation between public and private sectors especially startups and business created by young people. Ahead of the European Year of Youth let me tell you this there is experience knowledge and wisdom in our young generation especially with the young elected politicians who take pride in representing their cities and regions and are ready to take even more responsibility. Please listen to us as we are the present and also the future of Europe and thanks for the opportunity to speak to you today and as I could see from my previous speakers the future of Europe is very much female which I very much like. Thank you so much. Thank you Sandra, thank you for your participation and now we thank you and thank all our guest speakers. We have several requests for the floor from our members