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    "label": "Fifth Reformed Church Young People's Group, Grand Rapids, MI, December 1, 1971",
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    "id": "4526387",
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    "title": "Fifth Reformed Church Young People's Group, Grand Rapids, MI, December 1, 1971",
    "citationUrl": "https://catalog.archives.gov/id/4526387",
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        "Gerald R. Ford Congressional Papers",
        "Speeches"
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        "Youth"
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    "ocrText": "The original documents are located in Box D32, folder \"Fifth Reformed Church Young\nPeople's Group, Grand Rapids, MI, December 1, 1971\" of the Ford Congressional Papers:\nPress Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nCopyright Notice\nThe copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of\nphotocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. The Council donated to the United\nStates of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.\nWorks prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public\ndomain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to\nremain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid\ncopyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.\nDigitized from Box D32 of The Ford Congressional Papers: Press Secretary and Speech File at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library\nRemarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Fifth Reformed Church young people's\ngroup, 7 p.m., Dec.1, 1971, at Grand Rapids, Mich.\nIf ever a dialogue was needed between young people and adults, it is needed\ntoday between youth and the so-called Establishment. In my view, however, there\nshould not only be an opening of every possible avenue of communication. There should\nbe a partnership between Youth and the Establishment, a joining of hands toward the\nsolution of society's problems.\nThere are a number of channels of communication. One is the White House\nConference on Youth, which I think should be conducted periodically. This year\na White House Conference on Youth took place April 18 through 22 at Estes Park, Colo.\nThis conference not only brought togetehr large numbers of young people--nearly 1,000\ndelegates--but it was truly representative.\nBut the White House Conference does not answer adequately the need of young\npeople to communicate with the Establishment. What we need is to bring together\nthe energy of idealism and social consciousness of the young with the experience\nand money and organizational ability of Establishment leaders.\nI think the Establishment needs the ability and enthusiasm of young people\ntoday. I happen to know that Establishment leaders are deeply concerned about\nsocial problems and would like to make use of young people's energy and idealism\nto help solve them. The result of a partnership between youth and the Establishment\nwould be more direct and effective action on the problems about which young people,\nalong with adults, are concerned--the problems of our cities, of our environment,\nof racial injustice, of overpopulation, of poverty and of war.\nTo bring about this partnership between youth and the Establishment, new\nprograms and institutions must be developed.\nOne would be what I call \"Dialogue Week.\" This concept involves setting aside\na week for bringing young people and community leaders together in a number of\ncommunities. The prupose would be to stimulate better communication between the\ntwo groups. Business and community leaders would gain a better understanding of\nyouth's point of view and young people would gain more insight into the process of\ngetting things done within the constraints of established institutions.\nThe dialogue might focus, for instance, on the causes and effects of poverty\nin each community and the actions needed to eliminate poverty there.\nIndividual projects would be planned to give young people primary roles in\ndiagnosis and problem identification and adult members primary roles in problem\nsolving. Technical experts could be brought in where appropriate.\n-2-\nAnother avenue for youthful communication is supporting candidates for\npolitical office. A number of young people's groups are being formed to support\npolitical candidates whose views on poverty, race relations, pollution and other\nissues most closely parallels their own. These groups tend to be bipartisan, to\nstress specific issues, to emphasize working within the system, to aim at reform of\nthe political process, and to stress communication with the public-at-large via\nadvertising, doorbell ringing and political organization work.\nStill another avenue for youth action might be youth group consortiums--\nstudents from several colleges in one geographic location getting together or the\nyouth groups from various churches banding together to work on a single major\nproblem of the region like cleaning up a river, upgrading inner city schools,\ndelivering health services, housing, transportation, crime, drug addiction, job\ndevelopment, or the involving of the elderly in community life.\nThe project would be organized and directed by the young people--the\nstudents in collaboration with faculty and college administrators, the church youth\ngroups with adult leaders from the various churches. Young people engaged in these\nprojects would become involved in community action directed at achieving widespread\nsupport and interest for the project and in actual implementation of the program.\nWhatever the barriers, the potential for a partnership between Youth and\nthe Establishment exists.\nThe areas where such a partnership can be most fruitful are poverty fighting,\npollution control and political action.\nI think young people will find that three out of four adults are willing to\njoin in a partnership between Youth and the Establishment. What is needed most now\nis for someone to make the first move.\nI am anxious that we do it locally, on a State-wide basis, and nationally.\nRap sessions at all levels would be useful.\n# # #\nRemarks by Rep. Gerald R. Ford before the Fifth Reformed young people's group,\n7 p.m., Dec. 1, at Grand Rapids, Mich.\n1971\nphone\nn Office Copy\nIf ever a du dialogue was needed between young people and adults, it is needed\ntoday between youth and the so-called Establishment. In my view, however, there\nshould not only be an opening of every possible avenue of communication. There should\nbe a partnership between Youth and the Establishment, a joining of hands toward\nthe solution of society's problems.\nThere are a number of channels of communication. One is the White Hourse\nConference on Youth, which I think should be conducted periodically. This year\na White House Conference on Youth took place April 18 through 22 at Estes Park, Colo.\nThis conference no only brought together large numbers of young people--nearly 1,000\ndelegates--but it was truly representative.\nBut the White House Conference does not answer adequately the need of young people\nto communicate with the Establishment. what we need is to bring together the energy\nand idealism and social consciousne SS of the young with the experience and money and\norganizational ability of Establishment leaders.\nI think the Establishment needs the ability and enthusiasm of young people today.\nI happen to know that\nEstablishment leaders are deeply concerned about social\nproblems and\nwould like to make use of young people's energy and idealism to help\nsolve them. The result of a\npartnership between youth and the\nEstablishment\nwould be more direct and effective action on the problems about which young people,\nalong with adults, are concerned--the problems of our cities, of our environment,\nof racial injustice,\nof overpopulation, of poverty and of war.\nTo bring about this partnership between youth and the Establishment, new programs\nand institutions must be developed.\nOne would be what I call \"Disalogue Week.\" This concept involves setting aside a\nweek for bringing young people and community leaders together in a number of communities.\nThe purpose would be to stimulate better communication between the two groups. Business\nand community leaders would gain a better understanding of youth's point of view and young\npeople would gain more insight into the process of getting things done within the\nconstraints of\nestablished institutions.\nThe dialogue might focus, for instance, on the causes and effects of poverty in\neach community and the actions needed to eliminate poverty there.\nIndividual projects would be planned to give young people primary roles in diagnosis\nand problem identification and adult members primary roles in problem solving. Technical\nexperts could be brought in where appropriate.\nAnother\navenue for youthful communication is supporting candidates for political\noffice. A number of young people's groups are being formed to support political\nGERALD\nLIBRARY\n-2-\ncandidates whose views on poverty, race relations, pollution and other\nissues most closely parallels their own. These groups tend to be bipartisan, to stress\nspecific issues, to emphasize working within the system, to aim at reform of the\npolitical process, and to\nstress communication with the public-at-large via\nadvertising, doorbell ringing and political organization work.\nStill another avenue for youth action might be youth group consortiums--students\nfrom several colleges in one geographic location getting together or the youth groups\nfrom various churches banding together to work on a single major problem of the region\nlike cleaning up a river, upgrading inner city schools, delivering health sertices,\nhousing, transportation, crime, drug addiction, job development,\nor the involving\nof the elderly in community life.\nThe project would be organized and\ndirected by the young\npeople--the\nstudents in collaboration with faculty and college administrators, the church youth\ngroups with adult leaders from the various churches. Young people engaged in these\nprojects would become involved in community action directed at achieving widespread\nsupport and interest for the project and in actual implementation of the program.\nWhate ver the barriers, the potential for a partnership between Youth and the\nEstablishment exists.\nThe areas where such a partnership can be most\nfruitful are poverty\nfighting,\npollution control and political action.\nI think young people will find that three out of four adults are willing to join\nin a partnership between Youth and the Establishment. What is needed most now is\nfor someone to make the first move.\nI am anjoins that we do it locally,\non a state-wide bans, and nationally\nRap Aessions at all levels would be\nuseful"
}