Our Mission

To mobilize our communities to fulfill their promise to meet the basic needs of each child, youth, and family while promoting the development of their character, faith, and educational potential.

Our Vision

To ensure our children, youth and families are healthy, feel safe, develop marketable skills, have relationships with caring adults and give back to the community.

Our Goals

Foster Positive Environments

Create a cultural environment where our community has a clear understanding about the situations children and youth face coupled with fostering those effective systemic strategies needed to address both the symptoms and the roots of those situations.

Best Practices

Bring to our communities leading approaches to identifying the needs and priorities of children, youth, and families and meeting those with leading asset and evidenced-based programs, skilled and trained individuals, and effective planning, assessment, and continual re-evaluation of priorities and approaches.

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Encourage Collaboration

Serve as the community clearinghouse and networking body that encourages partnerships and collaborations and broadens opportunities through community-wide communications and media efforts, common data and language tools, intra-agency referrals, funding opportunities, and regular information exchange.

Sustainability

Ensure that the five promises of Bristol’s Promise are secured in our community by holding in trust the assessment and plan, ensuring dedicated commitment and financial support, launching and/or filling in programming gaps for future community adoption, and delivering successful results for our children, youth and community.

The Five Promises

Research shows that if the Five Promises, as defined by America’s Promise, are consistently fulfilled, they can significantly advance the health and well-being of the next generation – increasing the chances of youth becoming successful adults.

Caring Adults

Safe Places

A Healthy Start

An Effective Education

Opportunities to Serve

Our History

1998

Bristol’s IGNITE Community Visioning process paves the way for the Youth Networking Alliance (YNA) with the purpose to bring folks together who cared about children and youth issues.

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2001

Mary Rausch at King College Linking Center proposed Bristol should become a Community of Promise, as King College was a College of Promise, affirming The Five Promises outlined by America’s Promise.

Richard Wells, Vice President of America’s Promise, visited Bristol in November of 2001 as agencies and organizations pledged their support. The proposal of being a Community of Promise was taken to and approved by both Bristol City Councils and both Bristol School boards. Thus we became Bristol’s Promise: Youth Networking Alliance.

2004

In 2004, both Bristols were able to conduct the Search Institute Survey. In fall 2004 Bristol Tennessee received a grant for Communities That Care (CTC) and undertook community-wide planning, a process already embraced by Bristol VA. Bristol’s Promise embraces both the asset-building approach of the 5 Promises and targeting Risk Factors as identified by CTC surveys.

2005

In 2005, the CTC process was completed. Bristol Tennessee City schools used CTC and Search Institute data and received an $8.2 million Safe Schools & Healthy Students grant. Bristol VA uses the YRBS (Youth Risk Behavior Survey) every other year with in-depth assessment every 5 years.

2006

In 2006 Bristol’s Promise officially incorporated and became a 501-c-3 organization.

2023

In 2023 Bristol’s Promise made the bold decision to refresh their branding and officially change their name to Appalachian Promise Alliance to better reflect their service area. We intentionally kept the “Promise” in our name and our branding mark to keep us connected to our strong and proud heritage.