BOULDER, Colo. — A new app, created by University of Colorado scholars, is hoping to be a one-stop shop for students in need.
It's called the Power of One. It became available for download in July, and it works similarly to the state's Safe2Tell app, which allows students to anonymously report safety concerns to cops.
With the Power of One app, students can report any other concerns they have and get help from specially trained community members rather than law enforcement. Those professionals will help with issues like homelessness, food insecurity and mental health.
"So, when youth are struggling with all kinds of things, you know, basic needs or bullying, need a mentor, depression, if they don't get support and intervention, then that can lead to violence," Dave Bechhoefer, the project director for the CU Boulder-based Youth Violence Prevention Center. "So, our community partners, many of whom are community youth serving organizations, really wanted a way to find youth and get them hooked into services and resources."
Keshon Nunn is the president of the Youth Advisory Council for the Youth Violence Prevention Center. He is one of the members looking to promote use of the app. Nunn said if this app existed when he was younger, his life would be different.
"Oh, without a doubt, I think things would have been a lot more different," Nunn explained. "[My family] didn't really have no food. So, my brother, he would go to the store and go steal some stuff and that kind of led to a life that enabled him to think that was OK. So, he's like going down a path and continues to go down that path and that's kind of where we aim to step in."
The new app hopes to meet students where they are, right on their phones, and shape their lives before they go down a wrong path. Right now, they're focusing on students in northeast Denver. Bechhoefer said they're speaking to students at schools in Green Valley Ranch, North Park Hill and Montbello.
They hope to eventually expand the resources statewide.
Nunn stressed the importance of using 'peer navigators' rather than law enforcement for their response. He said that was especially important when it comes to mental health issues.
"A lot of people just need somebody to talk to and don't even realize it. So they're not knowing how to process their emotions and going out and inflicting harm on other people," Nunn, said. "It's a myriad of problems and I'm not going to say we have all the solutions, but we have a majority on of them on there."
The app is open to working with whole families, because its creators know some of these problems don't just impact a student. They are also partnering with organizations like Struggle of Love to address issues relating to youth violence, and they will work with law enforcement if there is any immediate danger.