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 E. Lake St. Petoskey, Michigan 49770
Address:
Email:
231-330-2253
Phone Number:
Project Name:
CAP CON Connections
Project start and end dates:
Monday, March 3, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Amount Granted From Hestia:
$
2000
Project results and Impact
How many girls/women have been served by the project during this project year?
Due to numerous academic/extracurricular conflicts with earlier 2026 CAP CON dates this year, only two female members of the Petoskey Youth Advisory Council were direct participants. Having said that, the PYAC members were offered an incredible, first-ever opportunity to present along with me to over 100 elected officials in attendance at an hour-long break out session on the topic of “Youth Movement: Getting Students Engaged in Local Government.” The PYAC attendee-presenters have since received outreach from elected officials statewide who are interested to visit Petoskey to observe PYAC in action as a model for starting youth advisory efforts in their communities. Also, the PYAC CAP CON presenters have connected with female members of the Sterling Heights Youth Advisory Board; together, they are brainstorming a possible youth advisory member gathering at CAP CON 2027. Therefore, as a result of the Hestia grant, PYAC member efforts are not only having an impact Up North but also statewide. Additionally, those participants and other PYAC members have begun local community outreach to share their CAP CON experiences, information gained and the opportunity presented going forward.
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:
For PYAC members available to attend, the goals of the program were fulfilled. They met directly with elected officials from all over Michigan including Senator Damoose and Representative Fairbairn. In addition to presenting, they heard from Michigan gubernatorial candidates and joined elected woman officials at the Michigan Women in Municipal Government annual luncheon. Post return, I sought input from participants on the CAP CON experience. A sample response received, follows:
“Attending CAP CON positively impacted my knowledge of the importance of local government. At first, being in a room full of elected officials was intimidating, and I felt small in comparison. Then, after listening to what many of them had to say, I realized we all have the same goal of bettering our local communities. I learned that the foundation of our national and state governments is built on the strength of our local governments, because the small steps we take to improve our communities are what hold the state together. At the end of my experience, I no longer felt small compared to these officials but empowered, because I can see in my council and in my community how democracy becomes tangible."
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:
“I would recommend attending CAP CON to other PYAC members because I not only learned more about local governments across the state of Michigan, I discovered different pathways for my future job. I spoke to different city officials and business people and learned how engineering, my desired pathway, corresponds with the government. One person in particular who I spoke with, is from northeastern Michigan. He was a civil engineer, which led him into a city manager position. I found this conversation interesting since it combined his knowledge and skills from working as an engineer to government practices. Overall, the experience was very worthwhile and I am thankful and fortunate that I was able to attend CAP CON.”
“CAP CON is an amazing opportunity to connect with and learn from elected officials. It was also so interesting to see how many officials were interested in creating a youth council, which puts into perspective how much our voice matters to them. I think this experience will positively impact my service on PYAC and beyond because it has shown me that my actions to improve our community don't just affect Petoskey, but are felt statewide."
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 2027 and based upon PYAC attendee input from 2024 and 2025, we plan to attend. We hope that CAP CON scheduling will allow more PYAC members to attend and to once again have the support of the Hestia Women's Giving Circle for female PYAC participants. I have secured an allocation of funding in the City budget for male PYAC participants and a second chaperone, as needed. I will fund my own participation as an attendee and chaperone as an in-kind contribution to the opportunity.
Public Relations
How did you publicize this grant?
Please list any examples.
-The PYAC CAP CON 2026 Power Point presented to over 100 Michigan elected officials and made available to all CAP CON attendees acknowledged the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle grant as the funding source for female PYAC attendees.
-The Hestia Women’s Giving Circle was acknowledged in the summer 2025 edition of Michigan Municipal League's magazine, "The Review," on page 16 as a part of a cover article featuring the Petoskey Youth Advisory Council, “The Kids Are Alright – Petoskey Revives its Youth Advisory Council.” "The Review" magazine has a print circulation of 20,000 including elected officials statewide. The article can be found at the following link:
https://cms3.revize.com/revize/petoskey/Departments/YAC/MML-Review-Magazine-Summer-2025.pdf?t=202602041222210&t=202602041222210
-Ida Dwan, a home school senior and PYAC Secretary crafted a press release for the News Review and other media outlets that acknowledges the Hestia Women's Giving Circle's financial support of the CAP CON opportunity.
-Annually, I recognize Hestia’s grant support on the record at a Petoskey City Council meeting in connection with the Petoskey Youth Advisory Council’s annual presentation to the Council.
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. Further, this year, the two women PYAC attendees had the incredible first-ever CAP CON opportunity to present directly to +100 elected officials during an hour-long session on the Petoskey Youth Advisory Council. This experience elevated female voices in a leadership context and grew PYAC members’ real world professional skillset – a truly invaluable learning adventure. An added bonus is that the learning continues as those PYAC members build relationships and opportunities statewide post CAP CON to grow the inclusion of youth voices in other communities and in other venues. I’m hopeful that the timing of the 2027 conference will allow more PYAC members to attend and garner the benefit of the experience, which would not be possible without the grant support of the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle.
Grant Final Budget Form
REVENUES
Proposed Revenue
Revenue Item
Grants
$
$
$
$
$
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
TOTAL REVENUES
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Actual
Revenue
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
EXPENSES
Expense Item
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
J.
K.
TOTAL EXPENSES
Proposed Expense
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
Actual Expense
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$