Western Colorado Community Foundation - Tedi Gillespie - Full Circle Podcast

How are cell phones impacting our kids and our parenting? Christi sits down with Tedi Gillespie from the Western Colorado Community Foundation to discuss the Hold the Phone campaign with D51 schools, their brand new Heads Up Parenting initiative, and much more for this month's Full Circle Podcast!

Learn more about the Heads Up campaign at https://wc-cf.org/headsup/

If you prefer to watch your podcasts, head over to our YouTube page to check out this episode and more! 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):


Speaker 2 (00:06):
The Full Circle podcast, compelling interviews
and incredible tales fromColorado's Western Slope, from
the mountains to the desert.
Christy Reese and her team herefrom the Movers Shakers, and
characters of the Grand Valleyand surrounding mountain towns
that make the Western slope theplace we all love. You'll
learn, you'll laugh, you'lllove with the full circle.
Hello everyone and welcome tothe Full Circle Podcast. I'm

(00:27):
your host, Christy Reese. Andtoday I am really excited to
have here , uh, the director ofGrants and community outreach
from the Western ColoradoCommunity Foundation, Teddy
Gillespie. Welcome Teddy.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
Thank you. Great to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
So glad to get to talk to you because you have a
lot going on at the Communityfoundation. And I wanna start
with a little background on thefoundation so people know how
long you've been in existence,what your role has been in the
community, and how that haschanged over the years. And I
also want to hear about yourbuilding a little bit. 'cause I
think that's an important partof your journey.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Absolutely. Um , and, and that's a good way to
look at it , um, because we arejust , uh, just coming up on 27
years. Wow. Um, we started in1996 with some community
leaders who felt like theywanted a homegrown , um,

(01:23):
community foundation Mm-Hmm .
to both be ableto raise funds in Western
Colorado and meet needs Mm-Hmm. , um, of our
various communities through theWestern Slope. So we had some
phenomenal founders who reallyare, you know, the backbone and
behind the success of ourcommunity foundation. Um,

(01:46):
people like Dave Woods and JaneQuimbee, the original Jane
Quimbee. Um, let's see. Oh,just lots. I'm like seeing the
history wall in front of me, and , um, Bruce Dixon
and, and various people thatwere leaders in the community
at the time. Um, Joe Princeton.

(02:09):
Um, so, so these leaders wantedto establish the foundation,
which they did. And communityfoundations are different. We
say if you've met one communityfoundation, you've met one
, um, because I like it . We are , um, we are
very unique to our owncommunities, but essentially a

(02:29):
community foundation versus ,uh, an issues based foundation
like a health foundation or a ,um, you know, children's
foundation, et cetera . We are,we don't focus on just one
issue. We focus across theboard , um, on the needs in the
community. Mm-Hmm.
. And, you know,in terms of the changes over

(02:50):
the years, well , certainlygrowth, and we can talk about
those numbers. Yes . Because ,um, I've been at the foundation
, um, a little over 10 years,and I think we were celebrating
50 million in managed assets atthat time. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, we are wellover 170 million.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
That's amazing.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Um , yeah. So we've, you know, again, thanks to the
generosity of donors and , um,all kinds of people through the
community who recognize thekind of things that we're
working on and the needs thatwe're meeting. Um, and they
wanna be part of that. Mm-Hmm .
. So , um, partof the change of that is we ,
um, we manage by far a lot ofdonor advised funds, and that

(03:34):
means donors can direct theirfunding annually , um, based
on, you know, the charitiesthat they are interested in.
Mm-Hmm. , um,they can have designated funds,
which we have a lot of wherethey designate the organization
or organizations that they wantto , um, impact every year. And

(03:56):
then we have field of interestfunds, which donors can
establish based on , uh, asector Mm-Hmm .
that they want to impact, likechildren's health or basic
needs and , um, and theenvironment, different things
like that. But , um, I wouldsay that, you know, the biggest
change that we see and wherecommunity foundations want to ,

(04:19):
um, grow to is to be able tohave more discretionary funds.
Mm-Hmm . . Um ,and so being the folks that
work like myself and mycolleagues in , um, in the
communities and see the needson the day-to-day basis, and
see the changing of needs, Ithink that's really where a

(04:39):
community foundation , um,really excels. Mm-Hmm .
in terms of , um,being able to be flexible, what
was once true of the needs in acommunity, you know, 10, 20
years from then would havecertainly changed. Yes . And
we've seen that. And so it,it's not, you know, me

(05:01):
personally or our staff that'shere now, it's kind of the
mission of the communityfoundation that 20, 30, 40
years from now, we would beable to see the changing needs
and address those , um, with,you know, the donor advised or
whatever the funds Mm-Hmm .
we

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Have so , Mm-Hmm .
and , andfocusing some discretionary
funds, whether needed most, asopposed to just always having
the same amounts go todifferent organizations.
Correct. So you keep in touchwith all of the nonprofits in
the community. We do. Like you, that's a big job because we
have a lot here, but keepingabreast of what they're facing
is really important for thecommunity foundation. Mm-Hmm.

(05:41):
.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah. And , um, we really consider ourselves and
our nonprofits partners.
Mm-Hmm. , um,it's definitely a partnership.
You know, they, we providefunding, but they're doing the
work. Mm-Hmm. .
And , um, we would not be ableto do what we do and address
the issues that we are withoutthose nonprofits on, on the

(06:02):
front lines. Mm-Hmm .
providing theservices.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
So I think that most people know kind of how a
community foundation isstructured or organized, but
for those people that don't,and maybe there's some
listeners or watchers out therewho are thinking, you know, I,
I have the charities that Ilike to give to, and I write
them a check directly, whyshould I give money to the
Community Foundation instead?

Speaker 3 (06:25):
Right. We , um, address that question a lot.
It's a very good one. Um, wedon't want to replace, if a
donor wants to give directly toa charity, that's great. Um,
what we feel we , um, bring tothe community is not only our

(06:45):
community foundation and notall community foundations focus
on , um, endowments like we do.
Um, and so we work with a lotof folks who want their funding
invested. Um, and that's whatwe do. And so it grows over
time. Mm-Hmm . and it's there for good for the
community. Um, and I oftenshare with people that, you

(07:09):
know, again , uh, welcome andwe support , um, when folks
wanna write that checkdirectly. Um, but with us, you
know, the donor has the benefitof not only the ability to
invest in a pool , um, withgreat returns. Um, that is part

(07:30):
of how we've grown over theyears Mm-Hmm . ,
In addition to more and moredonors. Um, we have a great
investment strategy and returnson those investments so that ,
um, for a , a givenorganization, a donor could
establish a , um, a legacyfund, an endowment fund that
will support that organizationover the long term . Mm-Hmm.

(07:54):
. Um, and that's,that's a little different from
writing a check. We kind of,you know, we also talk about
the United Way, which is agreat organization and partners
of ours. And , um, kind of thedifference there where, you
know, they raise money and then, um, distribute it annually.
So we think of that kind oflike the checkbook of the

(08:16):
community , uh, and , um, wethink of ourselves more as the
savings account. Oh . So I likethat . Yeah . So the money is
there and it's invested. And ,um, one of the things that I've
spoken with some of our fundsabout is , um, the fact that
our staff can be those eyes andears on the ground. Mm-Hmm.

(08:39):
. Um, and notthat our nonprofits , um,
partners need monitoring, butthings happen over time and we
kind of have our fingers on thepulse of , you know , um, this
organization might be goingthrough , um, you know, some
transition Mm-Hmm.
, um, they mayneed different things than what

(09:00):
a donor may perceive that theyneed. So we can really work to
be that broker between thedonor and the organization for
the best benefits. Mm-Hmm.
, um, for the

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Community. And there's also advantage to
donors for the communityfoundation if they don't have a
charity that they really , um,like giving to on a, on a
consistent basis to say, here'ssome money and let's put it to
the best. Good. You , you letme know. Community foundation,
where this can be used , uh,where it's needed most right

(09:31):
now. Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
, we work with a lot of donors in
that respect. Um, we, we do,you know, everything is really
person to person , um, customto the donor's needs and their
charitable intent. Mm-Hmm.
. So , um,whether you are talking to one
of our donor relationsspecialists or our program

(09:54):
folks, you know, with reallythe expertise on the program
side, put that donor intenttogether with, you know, the
program expertise and, and wethink it yields best results
for the community.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
So for a a , a nonprofit organization that is
needing help, do they come andapply with you if they need a
special , um, you know, they'vegot a special project going on
that they need funds for? Isthat how that works?

Speaker 3 (10:23):
Yes, indeed. Um, we have both , um, competitive
grant processes. So , um, lot ,lots of committees that , um,
work with those competitivegrant processes, whether it's
the Bronson Memorial Fund, youknow, for substance use
prevention and treatment , um,or our C community grants fund

(10:45):
that we do across the sevencounties that we serve in the
region. And so thoseorganizations are applying, and
it is a competitive process, sothere's always more need than
there is funding. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, but , um,that is one way that
organizations can, you know,access the different , um,

(11:05):
different funds that we manage,but also because of the donor
directed, donor advised fundsand the number of those that we
manage. We have what we call a, a request for funding
process. Mm-Hmm. . Um, and that is , um, more of
a submission to let us knowabout the needs so that we can

(11:25):
, um, potentially match thatwith donor interest. Mm-Hmm.
. And so that'snot necessarily a grant process
where it's like we have fundingfor, you know, substance use
prevention right now. This iskind of an open call for
letters of interest. Mm-Hmm .
, um, is anotherway to put it. And , um, and so

(11:46):
that's year round . Nonprofitscan , um, submit through that
and we review them quarterly.
Um, but also we haverelationships where I'm pretty
sure every nonprofit in MesaCounty, and most
nonprofits across the WesternSlope , um, have either my
office or my cell phone numberMm-Hmm . . So,

(12:06):
and they can call me directlyand let me know what's going
on.

Speaker 2 (12:09):
And it is the Western Colorado Community
Foundation. So what region doyou feel that you serve?

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Um, sure. We serve seven counties. Um, so that's
Eagle, Rio Blanco, Garfield,Mesa County, Delta, Montrose,
and ure . So that's the seventhat we serve.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
And do you have offices in all of those
locations?

Speaker 3 (12:29):
We don't have offices, but , um, we travel a
lot. Mm-Hmm . ,uh, and we did just add a
regional outreach director ,um, RIE Hall, who is our newest
staff person, and she's locatedin . Wonderful. So
that will go a long way towardshelping our outreach, whether
it's with donors or nonprofitsor both. Right . In our

(12:52):
southern counties.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
And when people donate, are they typically
donating to keep the money inthe community where they live?

Speaker 3 (13:02):
Sometimes. Um, I mean, for the most part, yes.
The majority of our donors areby far place-based and wanting
to impact Western Colorado.
Mm-Hmm. , itdoesn't mean that they can't
ask for a grant to go tovictims of Helene Mm-Hmm.
in NorthCarolina. Um, we don't do a lot
of , um, I would say we don'tdo any outside of the United

(13:26):
States, except throughinternational organizations
that are based, but also evenwithin our community foundation
in our regions , um, we haveestablished what we call local
community funds. So that'sreally hyper-local where Mm-Hmm
. , those folks ,um, those leaders want to
impact that ear area. Yes. Um,and not necessarily even the

(13:52):
whole county. Mm-Hmm.
, um, forexample, in Delta we have three
different local community funds, um, and that includes the
Surface Creek Community Fund,the West EL Community Fund, and
the town of Delta Proper. So ,wow . Um, that's really where
people want to both raise themoney and impact the issues.

(14:12):
Mm-Hmm. ,

Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's a lot to know. That's , um, that's
great. Well, obviously it's areally vital part of our
community, and I wanna justhighlight some numbers from the
2023 annual report. So $6million in new donations and
legacy gifts last year, 14 newdonor funds established $6.6

(14:34):
million in grants andscholarships distributed.
Amazing. And as you said before, $170 million in total assets.
That's really incredible. And Iwonder how that compares to
other foundations of our size.
'cause that's seems like a , anamazing number.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
Um, we , we feel pretty good . Mm-Hmm .
. Um, especiallybecause it just continues. It's
not like even during Covid thatwe had, you know, flat years
Mm-Hmm. . Um,there's just a lot of generous
people here on the Westernslope, and we're very thankful
and grateful , um, for thosefolks who are so generous
Mm-Hmm . and wantto impact the community. Um,

(15:11):
you know, I can't, I don't havethe size of kind of , um, uh,
you know, similarorganizations, but I would say
that Telluride Foundation, forexample , um, they, they do not
do endowments. So they reallyspecialize in specific areas of

(15:31):
issues , um, and also kind ofmore of that money in money out
the door. Mm-Hmm. , um, the Aspen Community
Foundation is only for onecounty. Um, and they, they tend
to focus on specific issues aswell. Um, and I , I , I don't
think they do endowments. Idon't think they specialize in

(15:53):
that. Um, and we work with allof these community foundations
Mm-Hmm . ,they're , you know, partners in
Yes . In improving the life,you know, us for everyone

Speaker 2 (16:02):
On the Western , Western Slope. Right. Yeah .
West Slope Best slope , right?
Yes. Yes, yes.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Um, and part of the journey of the foundation is
that you acquired a newbuilding in 2023. Is that, was
that 2023 or 2024?

Speaker 3 (16:16):
Um, 20 and 23 mm-Hmm. . Um, we
moved in in February. And , um,it's interesting because we
celebrated our 25th anniversaryin 2022 and having our own
building , um, was part of ourfive year strategy. Mm-Hmm.
, um, our , ourfive year plan, strategic plan.

(16:38):
And so we started , um, with ,you know, it was all themed
dreaming forward , um, and partof our dreaming forward was
dreaming about having our ownbuilding, not just for our
growing staff, but also toestablish a Center for
philanthropy. Mm-Hmm.
, um, in, on theWestern Slope. Um, a place
where we could hold educationaltrainings for nonprofits , um,

(17:02):
donor education meetings , uh,host nonprofits for their
meetings. Mm-Hmm .
, um, all ofwhich we've done. So it was
amazing to us , um, that wesort of pictured this, and it
happened as quickly as it did.
Uh , and we had been office fora long time in the Alpine Bank

(17:23):
building. Mm-Hmm. . And , um, we moved diagonally
across the

Speaker 2 (17:27):
Street. Yeah . Half a block

Speaker 3 (17:30):
To our building.
Mm-Hmm. . Um,yeah. It was a big move for
those moving trucks, but , they tell us it's ,
um, it's just as , it's , it'sjust as big if not worse, as
moving across the street, whichyou probably know from I

Speaker 2 (17:43):
Believe it. Yes.
Real

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Estate. Mm-Hmm .
. But , um, inany case, you know , uh, the
people, most people know the ,um, the Roper Music building.
Yes. Um, as just that , uh, thebuilding's been there for a
hundred years. It wasoriginally the odd Fellows
building. Um, uh, the gentlemanthat bought it was a developer

(18:07):
that specializes in historicbuildings. And so we have the
benefit of purchasing abuilding that is magnificently
restored. Yes. Um,historically, you know, kept
these beautiful features and itcouldn't be more perfect for
us. So yeah . We're very happyto be in that space. And it, it

(18:30):
has been well utilized by ourcommunity right off the bat.

Speaker 2 (18:34):
Good. I'm glad to hear it. Mm-Hmm.
. So if people want to get intouch with the Community
Foundation, and we'll go overthis at the end too, I always
like to end with this, but ifpeople want to have a meeting
or talk to you about , um, theservices that you offer, how do
they get in touch with you?
Teddy,

Speaker 3 (18:51):
They can call our office at nine seven zero two
four three , um, 3 7 6 7. Theycan also go on our website at
WC dash CF as in communityfoundation.org. And there's
actually a form on our websitewhere folks can fill out for
interest in reserving thespace. Okay. Wonderful. We have

(19:13):
like four or five differentspaces. Nice. And folks can
from, you know, medium sized tolarge sized conference rooms to
large , um, basement. Mm-Hmm .
, um, kind ofhightech area. And

Speaker 2 (19:26):
We're very familiar with the building. 'cause we
actually, that's lease space inthat building at one point. And
then there was a , there was alender next door and there was
a title company upstairs. So itwas all real estate for a while
, and we were all over theplace in that building. So I
know how beautiful it is, andit's, it's a , I'm just
thrilled for you all. It's agreat home for you. Thank

Speaker 3 (19:44):
You. Yes, that is right. Thank you for reminding
me. , actually, yeah.
Help sign my daughter'smortgage there. Lots of us have
memories of , um, doing thosekinds of transactions as well
as the Roper music buildingconcerts or Yes. Lessons or
what have you.

Speaker 2 (20:02):
I heard from Brian, who's the one that remodeled
the building that when they ,uh, looked at the flooring
upstairs , um, someone said, Ithink everybody should , uh,
get off this floor right nowbecause it's not stable and
someone might fall through. Andit just kind of gave you heart
failure thinking about all theevents that had happened on
that second floor of thatbuilding with an old floor. But

(20:24):
anyway, he , he did it just intime, so

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Yes, he did.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Yeah. Um, so one of the things that you are doing
now, and I don't know if thisis a new thing for the
foundation, but you're, you'redoing some community outreach
programs, and the first one Iwanna talk about is the , um,
hold the phone campaign. Yes .
So how did the communityfoundation get involved in this
and decide to kind of take thelead?

Speaker 3 (20:47):
Um, well, you know, we have been working in youth
mental health for , um, aboutat least seven or eight years.
Um, as a, as part of my programresponsibilities. That's
something that was near, isnear and dear to my heart. Um,
and so, you know, with ourcommunity going through some

(21:10):
significant struggles withyouth mental health and , um,
our suicide rate is higherthan, you know, anywhere else
in Colorado. We're gettingstabilized with that, thank
goodness. But , um, our youthare struggling and they have
been. And so that was sort ofthe entry point of , um, our

(21:31):
community foundation startingto work with a local therapist,
Elizabeth Clark, who is , um, aspecialist in youth mental
health, but specifically inkind of the impacts of the
internet Mm-Hmm. that we were just starting to
see, you know, maybe 10 yearsago and now 20 years into the
smartphone and devices. Mm-Hmm. , we are really

(21:53):
seeing the impacts on our youthand ourselves. Well, and the
pandemic just intensified thatexacerbated Yes . Many things.
Yes . Mm-Hmm . .
Um, and so, you know, sort ofaround 20 17, 18, we started
partnering with ElizabethClark, our school district ,
um, the Mesa County Librariesand Hilltop, and offering , um,

(22:16):
presentations for families andyouth just to be smarter , um,
to stay powerful online. Um,right. Because we were starting
to recognize all of the darkplaces and , um, places kids
could go on the internet Mm-Hmm. and all of the
things that, that was sort ofdoing. And so that was really

(22:38):
our foray into this area. Um,we also were working deeply in
children's hunger, and wecontinue to do that. Mm-Hmm .
. So that'sanother issue-based focus that
, um, we have had for quitesome time. And people usually
know us by our lunch lizard partnership with the
school district. Um, and sowith Cyberstorm, that was sort

(23:00):
of the entree into, you know,this whole world where we're
starting to recognize, not, notthat we want to go back. I
mean, the internet and wherewe're at with technology now is
certainly , um, you know,tremendous benefits to society.
Mm-Hmm. . But wehave sort of gone through this

(23:21):
time without stopping torecognize, hey , um, it's a
powerful tool. Maybe we shouldhave some guardrails on this,
or at least think about ourchildren. Yeah . Um, when we
are using these devices and ,um, really as an extension of
ourselves at this point, wehave all kind of live with and

(23:44):
on our devices. Well,

Speaker 2 (23:45):
And it's really the time to dive deep into this
conversation, because someonemy age, we didn't have this
when we were younger, but we donow, but we're raising our kids
in this, and, and my kids, youknow, they had a few years
without any knowledge , uh,before we had cell phones and
access to so much data. Um, butthe kids being born in the last

(24:09):
14 years Mm-Hmm. . I mean, it's their, it's all
they know.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
Right. It's their world. Mm-Hmm. .
And again, you know, we are notin , uh, in this issue and, and
doing these campaigns at allwith the thought of , um, put
your phones down completely,and, you know, let's go back to
the 1970s , um, withphones, you know, with coils
and attached to them and all ofthat. Um, we're simply trying

(24:37):
to share with folks that weneed to be more mindful. Um,
and so, you know, sort of , um,we evolved with that work with
Elizabeth Clark and our schooldistrict and community leaders
having conversations to thepoint where , um, you know,
this, in this past year, theschool district had looked at ,

(24:59):
um, implementing a cell phonepolicy, a no cell phone policy
, um, for middle schools andhigh schools. Mm-Hmm .
. And they had acell phone policy, but as Dr.
Hill would explain , um, it , Imean, that had been on the
books for 10, 15 years. Mm-Hmm.
. But it was, itwas hard to enforce. And , um,

(25:20):
it was sporadically, you know,enforced. Mm-Hmm.
and goodness knows teachershave enough to do in trying to
teach and, and help our kidsand everything else. And so
enforcing a cell phone policywhen, you know , this one has
one, this one doesn't , youknow, that kind of thing. And
so when they dove deep into itthis year, and the school board

(25:42):
passed the cell phone policythat was updated, our community
foundation reached out, and wewanted to support that. Um, not
the enforcement of it.
Certainly that was the schooldistrict's job, but how could
we support the teachers whohave enough to do in the
classrooms Mm-Hmm .
, how could wesupport, you know, sort of the

(26:02):
environment to , um, say thisis okay. And what we started
hearing from kids is that , um,you know, it wasn't so much
that they wanted to be on theirphone all the time, but they
had that fear of missing out.
If they were gonna put theirphone down, what were they
missing? Mm-Hmm. .
But if everybody didn't haveaccess to their phone , um,

(26:25):
they didn't have that .

Speaker 2 (26:26):
So it took away so much , took away that

Speaker 3 (26:27):
Argument. It took away that , um, so what we did
is , um, we talked to ourdonors and the community and
held a campaign. We called, youknow, hold the phone. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, and , uh,it was to purchase these cell
phone holders , um, threedifferent kinds. One more that
, uh, shoe

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Shoe holder , like a shoe holder ,

Speaker 3 (26:47):
Uhhuh type of thing. Uh, over the
doorway. One was

Speaker 2 (26:50):
A , one was like a little box,

Speaker 3 (26:51):
One's a box. Mm-Hmm . you could open
up and put a lock on. Anotherwas more of a cubby Mm-Hmm .
, um, an opencubby. And , um, the school
district pulled all of themiddle school and high school
teachers. The, the mostexpensive one is called a
yonder. And it's actually

Speaker 2 (27:08):
A , a little pouch.

Speaker 3 (27:09):
A pouch. Mm-Hmm .
that opens , um,with a magnet. Mm-Hmm .
you have toattach it to. And that's been
used for concerts and differentthings for a long time , um,
where the artist doesn't wantpeople recording. So , um, so
that was on the more expensiveside, but whatever teachers
classrooms wanted that we, youknow , wanted to provide it. So

(27:31):
, um,

Speaker 2 (27:32):
So each teacher got to choose their own method.
They did their own deviceholder.

Speaker 3 (27:37):
They did Mm-Hmm .
what they thoughtwould work best for their
classroom. And , um, and so theschool district had let us know
that they estimated thatpurchase at about a hundred
thousand dollars. Um, andthat's what we were able to
raise. We raised a hundredthousand $900. Fantastic. Um ,

(27:58):
to support. Yeah. Those , um,those different holders for the
teachers. Mm-Hmm. . And result wise , um, I mean
, Dr. Hill has been sharingwith us, there wasn't , um,
nearly the amount of pushback ,uh, that the district thought
they would have. Um, you know,we've, we've actually gotten

(28:19):
some amazing reports from thekids themselves Yeah . About
how they feel, how much moretime they feel , um, free
enough to have conversationswith friends, to play games, to
focus on their schoolwork,which of course is the ultimate
goal. Yes. Mm-Hmm .

(28:39):
. Um, but alsojust, you know, socially Mm-Hmm
. , um, the factthat , um, kids are looking
each other in the eye, talkingto each other, having
conversations, regaining someof those skills. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, and again,it's no knock on, you know ,
how our kids are growing up.
It's, it's where we all are atthis point with technology.

Speaker 2 (29:01):
I think we feel as adults and we wanna impart to
our kids that having , um,social media relationship with
someone is not really having arelationship. A a real
relationship, I mean, in personis always gonna be more
significant. Mm-Hmm .
and moreimpactful.

Speaker 3 (29:19):
Absolutely. And I, I think Dr. Hill actually is ,
has called the whole campaign ,um, more social, less media.
Mm-Hmm. . So kindof a , a play on that, but it's
really true. Um, we were just ,um, Dr. Hill and Elizabeth
Clark were sharing some lessonslearned. And , um, the whole

(29:41):
process the district wentthrough to implement this
policy at our local Departmentof Human Service summit last
week. And as a part of a , thepanel , um, there was a
professor who is in charge of ,um, the Masters of Social Work
Program at CMU, and she wassharing with us that what

(30:03):
they're seeing is studentscoming in from the high schools
, um, into that program, oreven from the BA program. Um,
one of the first things theyhave to teach and go over is a
lot of the skills that havekind of been lost Yeah . In ,
in our, you know, in ourdeployment of so much tech

(30:26):
Mm-Hmm . and lessin person . So kind of how to
have a conversation, how to ,um, you know, have these very
social face-to-faceinteractions that are, are kind
of lost as part of thisprocess. So that's been an
interesting,

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Yeah. I , um, I'll share that. When I was in
college, I spent a summer inEurope , uh, mostly, mostly in
youth hostels, staying in youthhostels with my cousin. And ,
uh, what a great experience.
And we met so many othertravelers along the way, and ,
uh, took my kids back to Europea few years ago, and I noticed
such a change, you know, withpeople on their devices that

(31:06):
just weren't havingconversations with other
travelers as much. And Ithought, oh , that's such a
shame. Mm-Hmm . ,I was such a , something that I
treasured so much, and I see.
So same situation in schools,right? Right. Like, if you're
always on your device, you'renot having conversations.
Right.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
It's interesting because one of the , um, and
well , we'll , uh, we can jumpinto our next campaign. Yes.
And this has to do with it is ,um, you know, as we looked at,
and we were actually partneringwith Rocky Mountain PBS to
produce a PSA in collaborationwith Elizabeth , uh, Clark, and

(31:43):
we talked about, and the focusof that was kind of just look
up. Right. Um, and, you know,the messaging behind it was
about, you know, the, the worldis at our fingertips. Um, it
literally is with the phone,except what we're saying with
the kiddos is that their worldis in your eyes as a parent.

(32:03):
So, you know, we can have allthe access in the world to the
whole world , um, but if we'relosing the interaction with
each other, we're losing a lot.
Mm-Hmm. . Um , so,

Speaker 2 (32:17):
So, so the new campaign is Heads Up Parenting.
Correct. And how , how long agodid this start?

Speaker 3 (32:24):
Well, we just launched it on October 1st.
Okay , great . So brand new .
Um , and , but we've beenworking on it for a long time.
So this as well came in thatevolution of the different ,
um, the different impacts oftechnology that we've been
looking at. And , um, what westarted to realize is that,

(32:45):
yes, there's mental health andyouth mental health and kids on
their devices and all of that,but really when you go upstream
of that, we are looking at whatare, what are we doing now as
parents? How are we raising ourkids? And what is the impact of
our device use when we haveinfants and children and

(33:08):
toddlers, and we have lost thatability to , um, only focus on
them. Yeah . Now our phones arein the room, literally right
there with us the whole time.
What we're starting to see is ,um, that distraction of a
parent with an infant in thosezero to three years, really can
have an impact on theirdevelopment. Mm-Hmm.

(33:30):
. Um, and so westarted with a PSA , um, that
Rocky Mountain Public Mediaproduced, and , um, we sort of
call it eye to eye . So babiesthrive. Right. And so, looking
at that and recognizing thateven when you think your infant
is not paying attention, they,this is 80% of their brain

(33:53):
development is happeningbetween zero to three mm-Hmm.
. So all oftheir, both verbal and
nonverbal cues are coming fromus, the parents, the
caregivers, and we just don'trealize how precious those
moments are in terms ofbuilding your child's best
ability. Mm-Hmm. , um, in terms of development.
And so, w we all recognizethat. We think if you ask me,

(34:17):
you know, how long do you thinkyou're on your phone every day
, Teddy? Oh boy. It would belike , uh, I think 20 minutes
, you know , I'mlooking at it before I go to
sleep or whatever. Well, if youhad a tracking device that
would actually look more likefour hours Mm-Hmm .
total. Right. AndI think that's the thing that
we all don't recognize is thatit just slips by Mm-Hmm.

(34:37):
. Um , and we'recognizant of it. And so this
campaign heads up parenting.
We're just trying to raiseawareness and , um, you know ,
and share with each other thatthose moments are precious,
they're critical for baby'sdevelopment, and we really need
that eye to eye focus as muchas possible during those
critical years. Mm-Hmm.

(34:58):
. So that's notto say, and goodness knows,
parents , um, you know,there's, you're using your
technology to both get criticalinformation that you want to
have, right? You're a newparent, like, oh my gosh,
they're doing this. What shouldI do? We're not saying at all
that don't use your cell phonesor your devices or your, you

(35:18):
know , whatever. Um, we're justsaying be more cognizant and
turn off those notifications.
Mm-Hmm. , whenyou, you know, when you can
certainly turn off non-humannotifications. Yes . That bing,
bing, bing. Mm-Hmm .
all the time thatyou don't need to email your
Yeah . And actually, part ofwhat we've done with this

(35:40):
campaign is using a series ofkind of, well-recognized
nursery rhymes and , um, youknow, things from our
childhoods like baba blacksheep, and so baba black sheep,
mommy's on her phone, or , um,you know, the parents on the
bus scroll on and on. Um, butwith the message that, you
know, your phone doesn't needyou, they do, as in the infant

(36:03):
needs your attention. Yeah .
Infants can actually sense whenthey're being ignored. And it's
sort of like , um, ifeverything they're doing is not
getting your attention, what'sthe message we're sending Yeah
. To that infant? So

Speaker 2 (36:17):
There's a lot of research going on in this area,
and I I was really interestedto read , uh, about it online ,
um, on your , uh, website. Buttalking about , um, you know,
periods of time during the daywhen you could turn the phone
off, also having phone freezones in your home. Um, what
are some of the othertechniques that you're

(36:38):
encouraging?

Speaker 3 (36:40):
Um, uh, those are two of my top two favorites is
just turning off thenotifications, designating
phone free zones, like , um,you know, when you're with baby
and that critical feeding time,that interaction time, like you
can make the kitchen a phonefree zone. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, lots ofpeople these days are talking

(37:01):
about leaving their phonesoutside the bedroom. I mean,
this is just for any person inthese days, just for sanity
alone and to recognize, Hey,this is impacting my sleep.
Mm-Hmm. , um, youknow, I don't want to be tied
to the next, you know, yeah .
Um, tweet that comes over myphone, et cetera. Um, and so

(37:22):
those, those free zones aregreat. The other thing is just
to think about , um, replacingthat time with real interaction
engagement with your baby. So,you know, just playing those
games, I mean, you think ofthings from childhood like
Patty Cake and Peekaboo and allof those things. Those are

(37:43):
actually really importantdevelopment techniques that
babies emulate. And, and that'show their brain grows. So

Speaker 2 (37:52):
I was listening to something on NPR just , uh,
earlier today , uh, just caughtthe tail end of some interview,
but gentleman was saying, youknow, cell phone is, is a
misnomer for what This is , right? Mm-Hmm.
, it is asupercomputer that we each
carry around with us. Mm-Hmm .
. And it has thepower to , um, to do so many

(38:14):
things, but also to distract usto no end. Right ? It's not,
maybe we need to stop callingit a phone. And maybe that will
help people realize , uh, howmuch we rely on it in so many
ways and put it, we need to putit down a little more. Right .
Because you

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Think Right . It's a distraction we've never had in
our lives. So we don't know.
Um, and I , I know it soundskind of, I I think almost , um,
you know, childish, but Ialways think of it like we
don't know what we don't know.
And now that we've started tosee the research that we're
learning, just how impactfulthis is, you know, to take two

(38:53):
minutes and stop and thinkabout it and say, yeah, why,
why am I giving this in my handmore attention than I am my
baby even, or, you know, myfamily at the dinner table Yeah
. Or whatever. But it is all ofus. So, you know, in this
campaign, your phone doesn'tneed you. They do. Um, just

(39:15):
sort of raise that awarenessand think about it , um,
because we're all there.
Mm-Hmm. , it'snot, you know, oh , you are
doing this and it's doing itbadly. Um, Elizabeth Clark,
when we first started into this, um, journey with her, often
would talk about in thepresentations that it's similar
to the automobile. So with the, um, you know, development of

(39:39):
the automobile, one of thegreatest, you know, technology
advances, right? Yeah . Thatreally changed our worlds , um,
and brought us access toplaces, you know , far away and
all of that. But when, when ithappened and we all got
automobiles , um, we didn'thave stop signs, we didn't have
traffic lights, we didn't have,you know, sidewalks Mm-Hmm .

(40:03):
. Um, and sothere were all kinds of
unintended consequences. And,and so similar with technology
, um, we don't, we wanna becognizant of the unintended
consequences. What is thisdoing to us as our humanity?
Um, and we just wanna do abetter job. Mm-Hmm.
with that,

Speaker 2 (40:23):
So people can find out more about the , um, heads
up parenting campaign at yourwebsite, wc cf.org/headsup. But
if you just go to wcf or typein Western Colorado Community
Foundation, you'll get to thewebsite and find more
information. I would encourageour listeners , uh, to, to go

(40:43):
read some of the informationthere, because the studies are
really powerful and kind ofgive you goosebumps about, you
know, the changes that we needto make Mm-Hmm.
and , and encouraging young, ornot even young parents, but new
parents to really pay attentionto this information. Mm ,

Speaker 3 (41:00):
Yes. Thank you. Um, you can also just type in heads
up parenting.org that'll getyou right to that page. Um,
and, you know, part of ourcampaign, our outreach is to
talk to pediatricians andproviders and primary care and
, um, you know, caregivers,childcare centers just to help

(41:20):
spread this word. Um, and Iknow that everyone I've talked
to since we've begun , um, thiscampaign is just like, oh, you
know, hit yourself in theforehead. Of course this makes
sense. Yes. We should thinkabout this more. Mm-Hmm .
. And maybe if weall just thought a little bit
more about it, we could dothings differently. Um, I, I

(41:43):
share a story about , uh,Elizabeth and I being at , um,
uh, some kind of an event, Ithink it was at Rocky Mountain,
PBS, and , uh, talking aboutthe kinds of things that we
were doing together and , um,with a mom that was, you know,
due in two months, I think. Andso we were explaining what we

(42:04):
do and , um, about the PSA thatwe had produced with them, and
she just got goosebumps andliterally got so emotional and
said, I feel like you've justchanged the trajectory of my
kids' life. Wow . Because shesaid, I never would've thought
about this stuff, but now Iwon't stop thinking about it.

(42:26):
Mm-Hmm . . Soit's really kind of poignant.
Mm-Hmm . as faras ,

Speaker 2 (42:30):
Uh , are you looking for more funds for this
project? Of

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Course, yes. Okay .
Thank you for asking. Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 2 (42:36):
. So it's not just
about information, but if youwant to , if, if this topic is
important to you, go donate tothe Western Colorado Community
Foundation to help thisproject.

Speaker 3 (42:46):
Yeah. Thank you.
We're always happy to talk tofolks that want to be part of
our work. And , um, we've hadsome generous donors supporting
this, but we have already seen, um, you know, a media
campaign , uh, done well , um,does take a lot of funds.
Mm-Hmm . . Andwe, we do not want to do a

(43:06):
three month , six monthcampaign and just be done with
it. Mm-Hmm . ,we're on a journey here , um,
starting with the , you know ,um, cell phones and supporting
the schools. Mm-Hmm .
. Um , we arepiloting a lot of this stuff in
Mesa County, but we've gotseven counties , um, yes . That
are all struggling with thesame issues. And we would just

(43:27):
love to continue , um, thiswork and , uh, and we're
learning even as we're just unmm-Hmm . Unveiling it. Um,
different things that we can doand grow into supporting to ,
um, to really support ourcommunities in this journey
that all of us are on. Yes . Intrying to do better.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
Thank you. You brought some of the materials
for the campaign. Love to holdsome up to the camera and show
what you were talking aboutwith the nursery rhymes. Sure.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
Do I need to be, well,

Speaker 2 (44:00):
So let me read one or two of them . You have one
that is , uh, it's raining,it's pouring, and daddy keeps
scrolling. Your phone doesn'tneed you. They do. That's
great. And this one is blahblah , black sheep . Mommy's on
her phone.

Speaker 3 (44:15):
Mm-Hmm.
. Yep . And , um,I've got the itsy bitsy spider
felt ignored again. And on theback of all of these materials
, um, what we do is have, youknow, three simple , um, how to
actually reduce your, yourscreen time and including the
ones you mentioned, Christiewould turn off your non-human

(44:37):
notifications and maybe all ofthem. Um, and then create
device free zones, especiallystarting with the baby's room.
Um, and then use screen timelimits. Um, you can set , um,
things so that you're actuallyaware, oh wow, that 30 minutes
just went fast. Mm-Hmm .
all I've beendoing is scrolling or checking
my messages or what have you.

(44:58):
So these are the kinds ofmaterials, and we have them in
English and Spanish, and we ,um, we have , uh, these to
have, you know, the informationwe'll be able to share with, as
I said, providers and out therein the community , um, and ,
uh, on our website. Um, you'llbe able to say, I want to be in

(45:21):
touch. I want some of thesematerials for my office or my
school, or what have you. Sothat's, that's what we're
committed to

Speaker 2 (45:28):
Doing. Wonderful.
Well, thank you for the work ofthe Community foundation , um,
dedicated to the health of thechildren in our community and
around Western Colorado. It'sreally amazing.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
Well , thanks for helping us share that message.
Yes.

Speaker 2 (45:43):
Thank you for being with us today, Teddy. I really
appreciate your time. And , um,again, it it for our listeners
and our viewers, if you want tolearn more about the community
foundation, please go to theirwebsite. Um, they always need ,
uh, funds for all kinds ofthings, but you can, it just
donate to the general fund and, um, do a lot of good around
Western Colorado. So yes.

Speaker 3 (46:05):
Thank

Speaker 2 (46:05):
You. Thank you. All right everybody. We'll see you
next time on the Full CirclePodcast. Thank you so much for
joining us. Have a great day.
Bye. Thanks for listening. Thisis Kristy Reese signing out
from the Full Circle Podcast.