The Hayden Youth Action Council, a program of Partners for Youth, will roll up its sleeves Friday and work on a beautification project at the Hayden Town Park. The project includes tree and flower planting and will be capped off with food, drinks and giveaways for participating teens.

For the youth, who are using tools ranging from shovels to paintbrushes, the event is more than just a project — it’s a chance to plant and nurture roots of belonging, purpose and pride in a community experiencing rapid change.

“Four years ago, Partners for Youth extended the Youth Action Council program to Hayden,” said Sarah Everett, Routt County Empowerment Coordinator for PFY. “Originally, it was mainly in Steamboat Springs, and then it moved to Moffat County. Heidi Brown started it in Hayden at about the same time with a group of teens that were mostly upperclassmen and seniors.”

Under Brown’s leadership, that early group completed a mural in partnership with Rise Above Colorado at the Hayden Center. However, after graduation and staffing changes at PFY, momentum in the community slowed. When Everett stepped into the role in January 2024, one of her goals was to reignite the program and reimagine its potential from the ground up.

“I came in and started to recruit and get the name out there,” she said. “I wanted to let youth know we’re still a program and that we were, and still are, a safe space for youth to use their voice and make improvements in their community.”

Through discussion groups and community outreach, Everett and YAC members began to identify a key issue many teens in town felt: a lack of belonging and unity.

“They said that feeling happens in school, in the community as a whole and sometimes in their close tight-knit friend groups,” Everett said.

In response, the YAC decided to host public events including an October movie night screening of “Beetlejuice” as well as a December holiday craft party. Attendance began to grow steadily, especially among middle school students. The council also expanded to include seventh graders. 

“We had eight youth join after that,” Everett said. “We were generally having eight to 10 members at each meeting. It finally felt like we had enough youth, that they had really great ideas and that we should go ahead and tackle this next Hayden community project.”

The beautification project includes planting trees, shrubs and flowers along the tennis courts and installing a bench handmade by Hayden High School students. The youth will also place a “Little Free Library” painted to resemble a red telephone booth.

“We contacted the town of Hayden and I explained that the youth are very gung-ho,” Everett said. “They were fully on board with moving forward.”

The town of Hayden provided funding for materials, while PFY purchased the Little Free Library. Once installed, it will be registered with a national network and listed on an app where users can find community book-sharing boxes.

“We made a bench that’s going to be in the park for years and we painted a library that is ours,” Everett said. “They have that ownership and the visible proof of the change they can make in the community.”

For Hayden Middle School students Amy Cook and Amelia Hagerman, both 13, the project is a chance to create something lasting.

“I came to Partners for Youth because Sarah came to our school and spoke about it,” said Cook. “We had an assembly and I decided to come to the first meeting and then I just kept going.”

Hagerman added that she was “driven to help my community and be a better person in general” after hearing about the projects during Everett’s presentation.

Cook said that one major draw for her was “how accepting and kind everyone was.” That attitude and accepting environment made her want to continue to show up. 

“Every town has to have people that take care of it,” she said. “In Youth Action Council, we do park projects, go to festivals of sorts and we support the towns and communities around us.”

The work, both teens agreed, brings satisfaction and pride, particularly in the knowledge that they are individually and collectively helping others.

That sense of fulfillment is what Everett hopes more students will experience as the group, and their footprints in Hayden, continue to grow. The council meets weekly during the school year at the Hayden Center. While regular meetings will pause during summer, special trainings and team-building sessions will continue every two weeks. Everett noted that new members will be recruited in August.

“The goal, from the youth standpoint, is to create a deeper sense of belonging and a feeling of community,” Everett said. “They want to see more opportunities for youth to use their voice and improve their surroundings, specifically in the town of Hayden.”

Plans for future projects include upgrades at the relocated skate park, with potential improvements in lighting and security, in addition to murals throughout Hayden. 

For Everett, who has worked with teen councils throughout the Yampa Valley, Hayden’s distinct identity is something to be preserved even amid its population growth.

“Hayden has its own unique characteristics and personality,” she said. “I don’t see it losing that small town feel, which I think is wonderful because I do believe that’s why a lot of the teens and youth are growing to enjoy it more and more.”

Anyone interested in joining Hayden Youth Action Council or attending an event can reach Everett directly at 970-819-1202 or by emailing sarah@partnersyouth.org.