The Price of a War

We hear daily the cost of fighting a war in Iraq. Estimates are in the billions, sometimes even in the trillions. Who knows what the war will eventually cost us in dollars and in lives. What many don't realize is that the cost in lives isn't always those of the men and women who are in harms way. Some of the lives belong to the underprivileged in our urban neighbors. A program called YouthBuild, started in 1994, provides construction training and education to help high school dropouts obtain their GED and learn a trade while giving back to their communities. The people enrolled in the program renovate and rebuild houses in their own neighborhoods. For the fourth year, the program is marked to receive only $50 million in funding. 23% less than in 2004. And is causing many of the programs to close their doors. Read the YouthBuild story in the St. Louis Dispatch.

Learning from the youth . . . .

All of us have faced some kind of negative reaction to who we are or what we believe at some time in our lives. It takes a lot to stand up to that and be who we are in the face of ridicule. Teenagers and their friends across the country in small towns and big cities are standing up for themselves. Read this story about a Gay Straight Alliance in small St. Charles, MO.