City of Petoskey Youth Advisory Council
Final Grant Report for
Fiscal agent if applicant is not tax exempt:
Tax ID Number:
38-6004583
Contact First Name:
Contact Last Name:
Christina (Tina)
DeMoore
101 East Lake Street, Petoskey, Michigan 49770
Address:
Email:
231.330.2253
Phone Number:
Project Name:
CAP CON CONNECTIONS
Project start and end dates:
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
2000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
Six female members of the Petoskey Youth Advisory Council were direct participants in the 2025 Michigan Municipal League Capital Conference. Additionally, those participants and other PYAC members have begun community outreach to share their experience thereby impacting other young women (and men) with information gained from participation and all of the possibilities the opportunity presents going forward. Thus far, there has been outreach to the Petoskey High School (PHS) Honor Society, PHS Leadership, PHS Key Club, the home school network, the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Education Department and PHS Native American students/parents. A video prepared by senior Luke Washington has been shared with the PHS population at large, Concord Academy, St. Michael’s Academy, the Petoskey News Review and was presented at a Petoskey City Council meeting. That video can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WPDMPn_BcQ
Goal of the Project
Did you meet your program goals for the grant period?
If yes, how do you know? Please describe any program evaluation you use:
If no, please describe current barriers and how you are working to overcome them:
At the close of CAP CON, I requested an on-the-spot, thumbs up or thumbs down evaluation of the experience and whether or not we should continue attendance next year - I got a 100% thumbs up. After returning home, I sought direct input from all participants on the experience. Some input samples are included here:
"I cannot begin to express how great of an experience CAP CON proved to be for me as both a student and a woman. Meeting with Representative Fairbairn and Senator Damoose pushed me out of my comfort zone and gave me an opportunity to use my voice when often I feel like it isn't heard. In today's society, media is hard to escape. With this comes harshly biased and popular news. CAP CON taught me that bipartisanship can and does exist within governments. The main goal of any public official should be to help people."
" CAP CON was a unique and insightful experience. It provided mere high school students with the opportunity to speak one-on-one with government officials, giving us a chance to learn directly from them and spark inspiration within ourselves."
Do you have a story of how your program positively changed participant's situation, behavior, or knowledge?
If so, please share it:
From the words of participants:
"The conference gave me so many new ideas on how to better my community. I attended a session on direct tax pay credits of city sustainability projects such as solar panels and electric vehicles. I also got the chance to attend the Municipal Women in Government luncheon. This was an amazing experience as I got to meet and talk to many other women who are using their voice and determination through the trials and tribulations of municipal and state government. CAP CON was a great experience overall and furthered my interest in playing a role in my city government in the future."
"CAP CON gave me the opportunity to attend a presentation on sustainable energy. This presentation was incredibly insightful—so much so that when I returned to Petoskey, I began working on pitching wind turbines to our school administrators. Without CAP CON, I wouldn’t have learned these lessons, and without the chance to engage with government officials and be inspired by their drive, I wouldn’t have had the knowledge or motivation to bring about change."
Sustainability
Will this project continue?
If so, how will it be funded?
If not, why not?
CAP CON will once again be offered by the Michigan Municipal League in 2026 and based upon PYAC attendee input, we will plan to attend. We hope to once again have the support of the Hestia Women's Giving Circle for female PYAC participants and will will seek an allocation of funding in the City budget for male PYAC participants and a second chaperone. I will fund my own participation as an attendee and chaperone as an in-kind contribution to the opportunity. As an aside, I also sought funding for 2025 CAP CON participation from the Petoskey Harbor Springs Community Foundation but was not approved; while the project was deemed worthy, I was advised that the PHSACF received an abundance of worthy applications during the same funding round.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
Ida Dwan, a home school junior and PYAC member crafted a press release for the News Review and other media outlets that acknowledged the Hestia Women's Giving Circle's financial support of the CAP CON opportunity. I recognized Hestia’s grant support on the record at a Petoskey City Council meeting on April 21, 2025 in connection with a Petoskey Youth Advisory Council agenda item. That support was also shared with the Michigan Municipal League in advance of CAP CON when seeking cost accommodations for student attendance and at CAP CON in response to many inquiries as to how Petoskey was able to support student advisor attendance at the conference. In all relevant endeavors going forward, the support of the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle will continue to be recognized including an incredible, potential opportunity on the horizon not yet ready for publication.
Summary Comments
The CAP CON experience for PYAC members exceeded expectations in terms of access to substantive good governance information and direct, meaningful interactions with elected officials. In addition to interactions with local elected officials from throughout Michigan, PYAC members met with Senator Damoose, shared a breakfast discussion with Representative Fairbairn, met with retired US Representatives Fred Upton and Dan Kildee, attended a legislative session and were interviewed by the Michigan Municipal League to access youth perspectives. That content was released statewide and can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/we-future-petoskey-empowers-its-youth-public-service-mmleague-hyyuc/. As one PYAC participant explained, "CAPCON influenced me in many ways…It really made me think about how much work these elected officials put into their communities and how much I am grateful for that. It also made me excited to someday maybe be like them!" Another PYAC member concluded, "...stepping back to look at...how (local elected officials) are working to improve our lives no matter what has made me feel more grateful to be playing a role in our community...serving on our PYAC."
Grant Final Budget Form
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