Essay: How the Cody Rouge Youth Council is helping brighten fellow teens' time in quarantine

Taylin HodgesDuring this pandemic, it feels like we are stuck in a loop. With seemingly endless negative news reports and an increasing death rate, our daily lives have been flipped upside down.

While the data shows a flattening of the curve, it seems like it will be a long time until things get better. In Michigan alone there are 43,950 confirmed cases as of Monday, May 4, according to The Michigan Coronavirus Tracker. Other than being isolated and missing out on trips, I haven’t personally felt much loss during this time, but as a member of society, it does pain me to see others go through so much. In addition to causing a health crisis, COVID-19 has also caused an increase in unproductive activities among teens, like engaging in too much screen time on our cellphones. While in quarantine, it is easy to feel down and unmotivated to take part in healthy activities, but there are young individuals working toward making things better.

I am a member of the Cody Rouge Youth Council. We are a group of teens who serve our community and Detroit by lending our ideas and perspective to urban planning, and creating personal development opportunities for ourselves and other teens in our neighborhood. Our goal as a youth organization is to make our community a better place and inspire others like us, while learning something new every day. During this health crisis, we have adapted to reaching our goals virtually, and are working toward enriching our community and helping others feel that they are not alone.

The Youth Council has served as an important part of getting through this pandemic because our goal is to spread information, positivity, and overall good vibes. I encourage other youth to join organizations like the Youth Council because it provides so many opportunities to grow, learn, and help out your community while having access to networking, job and scholarship opportunities, and so much more. It is fulfilling to know you are giving back and helping make a change in your community.

We are working on new things to help brighten our time in quarantine, such as youth-centered mental health webinars, positive social media messaging, and Zoom workshops. The Zoom workshops will include meditation, cooking, and maintaining well-being during this pandemic. The target audience is teenagers, but we welcome all to come and join. We want to give everyone the opportunity to feel better about themselves, as well as our current situation. Our goal for this is to encourage less time on meaningless social media and the internet, and more time practicing hobbies, spending time with family, and growing into better people.

The Cody Rouge Youth Council’s vision is to build a better sense of community as a whole, and set an example for not only teenagers, but adults and children alike. When social distancing is over, we hope to continue on our mission in-person, and grow into a better organization. Until then, we are excited to bring Detroit together in positive ways and help each other get through this crisis.

In this YouTube video, I explain my personal vision for my community during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. My video can be found on Facebook and Instagram as well.

Taylin Hodges is an 11th grader at Michigan Connections Academy in Detroit.