Safety Starts With Community
We believe prevention happens through connection, awareness, education, and action.
Our action plan focuses on:
- Mental health and resiliency
- Early intervention and anonymous reporting
- Youth connection and belonging
- Safe firearm storage education
- School safety initiatives
- Parent and community education
- Collaboration between schools, families, mental health professionals, and law enforcement
Together, these efforts create stronger protective factors for students and families across our community.
School Safety & Prevention Efforts
Community conversations around school safety include evaluating a wide range of prevention and respo
Building a More Connected Safety Model
Stand Evergreen was invited to participate in the interview process for the Executive Director of Safety & Security for Jefferson County Public Schools.
Through conversations with superintendents, principals, School Resource Officers (SROs), R1 security personnel, and Human Resources staff, we gained a deeper understanding of the vast scope and responsibility carried by this role.
What became clear is that school safety today requires more than a single department or individual leader can sustainably manage alone.
At the same time, we recognize the difficult financial realities facing our schools and strongly believe that expanding safety efforts should not come at the expense of classrooms, teachers, or student learning resources.
In response, Stand Evergreen developed a proposal focused on creating a more connected, prevention-focused safety model — one that better aligns the systems, programs, and people already serving our students.
This includes creating stronger alignment between:
- The Department of Safety & Security
- Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs
- Student resiliency initiatives like Sources of Strength
- Mental health and prevention resources
- Community organizations like Stand Evergreen
This approach combines upstream prevention efforts with the proven safety practices already developed by the Department of Safety & Security.
By improving communication and coordination between these groups, schools can better support both the physical safety and emotional wellbeing of students and staff while creating stronger continuity as students transition between schools and grade levels.
We believe some of the strongest safety tools already exist within our schools and community — and that aligning these resources creates a more sustainable, prevention-focused approach to school safety.
Other Safety Initiatives Being Explored
Community conversations around school safety include evaluating a wide range of prevention and response strategies, including:
- Stop-The-Bleed training
- Ballistic safety film
- Emergency response preparedness
- Threat assessment programs
- Access control improvements
- Electromagnetic detection systems
- Staff safety training
- Community reporting systems
Our focus is ensuring that all safety discussions remain thoughtful, research-informed, and centered around protecting students while preserving healthy school culture and connection.
Prevention Through Education
Education is one of the strongest tools we have.
We are working to increase community awareness around:
- Internet safety
- Online radicalization warning signs
- Media literacy
- Healthy communication
- Emotional regulation
- Youth belonging and connection
- Early warning signs and intervention
Research consistently shows that strong protective factors — trusted adults, peer connection, belonging, emotional support, and early intervention — are critical to prevention.
Featured Community Programs & Partnerships
Sources of Strength
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center
Building Connection, Hope, and Resilience in Students
Sources of Strength is an evidence-based youth mental health and suicide prevention program focused on building protective factors through peer connection, trusted adults, and community support.
The program empowers students to identify strengths, create healthy connections, and support one another before crises occur.
What It Brings to Our Community
- Peer-led student support systems
- Increased connection and belonging
- Suicide prevention and mental health awareness
- Trusted adult relationships
- Positive school culture development
- Resilience education
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center
A Centralized Mental Health & Recovery Resource for Evergreen
Evergreen Virtual Resiliency Center provides centralized support resources for individuals, families, students, and community members impacted by trauma.
The resiliency center was created to ensure Evergreen families have accessible, trusted support during both immediate crisis response and long-term recovery.
Community Resources Include
- 24/7 crisis support lines
- Local counseling and therapy resources
- School recovery resources
- Youth mental health support
- Family trauma resources
- Community recovery partnerships