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The EveryDay Strong program was created in 2017 to help parents and other caring adults learn how to support their youths’ emotional wellness.

Courtesy United Way of Utah County

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Spending time with children can build personal connection, one of the three pillars of the EveryDay Strong program.

Courtesy United Way of Utah County

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Bill Hulterstrom, president and CEO of United Way of Utah County.

Courtesy United Way of Utah County

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Here in Utah County, we have always been known for how much our community values our children. We’ve often been recognized as the youngest county in the United States, and the youth and vibrancy of our community is truly something special. I love seeing how caring adults from all walks of life make a difference in the lives of our youth by taking time to get to know and encourage them. Childhood and adolescence are times of great learning and growth, and it is inspiring to see how our youth can blossom with strong support.

That support is one reason why I feel confident that our community, given the right tools, can come together to help our youth as they face significant challenges. While growing up has always presented challenges, over the past decade I have been alarmed to see more and more of our kids struggling with anxiety and depression.

This trend, which was already concerning prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, has become an even more urgent concern over these past few years. While there may be many causes and contributing factors to these rising rates of anxiety and depression, one thing is clear: Our youth need support.

That’s why United Way of Utah County, along with amazing partners, founded the EveryDay Strong program back in 2017. This visionary program helps parents and other caring adults learn how to support their youths’ emotional wellness through simple, everyday actions. Every child and every family is different, but EveryDay Strong provides a framework that all parents can use to support their children.

Michaelann Gardner, senior director of EveryDay Strong, has been with the program from its beginning and continues to provide vision and direction to the project. She has seen how its framework for emotional wellness empowers parents and families, even those who are dealing with significant challenges.

“Research shows that the No. 1 factor in a child being able to overcome trauma and a child who can’t is the presence of at least one caring adult,” Gardner said. “EveryDay Strong helps caring adults be that person in their child’s lives.”

EveryDay Strong’s framework for emotional wellness adapts psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to help parents and youth understand the foundations of emotional health. The primary foundation, of course, is having all physical needs met. But after our physical needs are met — after we have slept, eaten and found shelter — we all have important emotional needs that need to be met as well.

These emotional needs, as formulated in the EveryDay Strong framework, are emotional safety, personal connection and confidence. When our kids feel safe in their relationships with us, when they feel understood by us through sincere connection, and when they feel confident in their ability to try new things, they can learn to face significant and even severe challenges.

This may sound like a tall order; after all, some of the challenges our kids and families face are overwhelming. But as EveryDay Strong teaches, there are things that every caring adult can do every day to help build safety, connection and confidence. Things as simple as truly listening and staying engaged in a conversation with your child can build safety. Playing your child’s favorite game together can build connection. Naming the problems your child is facing can build confidence.

Thanks to strong partnerships with Nebo, Provo and Alpine school districts, the EveryDay Strong framework has been shared with hundreds of families in Utah County. But the impact of the program doesn’t stop there; EveryDay Strong has proven to be so impactful for families, it has now been implemented in several other states. This program, developed by experts and visionaries here in our own community, has now helped families across state borders.

It can be challenging to adapt to a new framework when dealing with emotional health, but the success of EveryDay Strong has shown that it is worth it. As Dr. Matt Swenson, one of the founders of EveryDay Strong, has said, “You will have so much more success if you think safety, connection, confidence. Use that lens of Maslow and let’s see these problems differently. Let’s give each other a little more credit. Let’s try to really meet these needs for one another.”

The challenges our youth face, including anxiety and depression, are real. They are difficult. They cannot be overcome alone. That’s why EveryDay Strong is so important.

I call on every caring adult to learn more about how they can support the children and youth in their lives by building safety, connection and confidence in those relationships. Together, we can build a strong network that will help all of us, especially our youth, thrive.

To learn more about EveryDay Strong or to access the EveryDay Strong Resilience Handbook, please visit everydaystrong.org.