Recent conversations about youth gatherings in D.C. have raised important questions about safety, opportunity and how young people experience the city around them. However, the conversation cannot stop at where they should not be. It must also ask where they are welcomed, where they can grow and whether they see themselves reflected in their community’s future.
Young people need places where they feel welcome and experiences that capture their interest. They need meaningful responsibilities, programs that help them develop their talents and trusted adults who listen before deciding what support should look like. They also need room to move, create, learn and enjoy being young.
They also need to know that the schools, parks, recreation centers and other community institutions belong to them, too. They need to know they are not simply visitors in this city—they are an important part of its future. When young people believe they belong, they are more likely to care for their neighborhoods, invest in their communities and see themselves as leaders.
That sense of connection is part of a young person’s health and well-being.
Health is shaped long before someone enters a doctor’s office. It is influenced by whether people feel valued and supported in the places where they live and learn. For youth, feeling understood and included can affect their confidence, relationships, participation in school and willingness to seek help when they need it.
That shared belief is where CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and the Washington, D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) meet. CareFirst invests in the people, organizations, programs and community spaces that shape health outside of clinical settings. DPR works every day to ensure young people thrive by providing safe spaces, recreation and enrichment programs that support health, growth and connection to community.
Together, we see belonging not as an extra benefit, but as a part of what helps youth imagine more for themselves and their city.
Through Graduation on Wheels, CareFirst, DC Bike Ride, FITDC and DPR distributed more than 300 DC Public School (DCPS) second graders were provided with bicycles, helmets and locks at Kenilworth Park and Recreation Center in Ward 7. Students learned how to ride a bicycle safely, then received new bikes that they can use to stay active and explore the city they call home.
The bicycles encouraged physical activity, but the program was also about independence, confidence and joy. For a child, a bicycle can expand the map of what feels reachable. It can make a neighborhood feel more open, a park closer and a city feel more like home.
At CareFirst Arena in Ward 8, students from Anacostia High School, Calvin Coolidge High School and Garnet-Patterson S.T.A.Y. Opportunity Academy helped create murals through the DCPS Transform DC program. Its theme, “We are the Builders, Our City, Our Blueprint,” sends a powerful message: Young people are not simply growing up in D.C. They are helping shape its identity and future.
The arena also recently welcomed District teens for Late Night Hype, part of the DPR’s summer programming. With music, dancing, games, food and other activities, the event offered young people a place to gather with friends in a setting created specifically for them. Programs like Late Night Hype and Late Night Drip are about much more than entertainment. They create safe, adult-supervised spaces where teenagers can build friendships, express themselves and simply enjoy being young without feeling pushed to the margins. These experiences help replace unstructured environments with opportunities that encourage positive decision-making, confidence and connection.
These efforts alone will not answer every need facing District youth. They do, however, demonstrate what is possible when schools, government agencies, businesses and community organizations work together and listen to what young people say they need.
At DPR, that philosophy extends across everything we do. Whether through youth sports leagues, arts and cultural programming, internships, workforce development opportunities or our citywide Supreme Teens program, our goal is not simply to keep young people busy. It is to help them discover their strengths, develop life skills, build meaningful relationships and find a sense of belonging.
DPR often emphasizes that teenagers are an integral part of our city. We must teach young people to care for their community while also ensuring they understand that this community truly belongs to them. This requires creating welcoming environments where every young person feels respected, valued, and empowered to make choices that support their growth and well-being.
CareFirst is working to strengthen the environments that support health and well-being. Our investments in the District include youth behavioral health, after-school programs, food access, recreation and places such as CareFirst Arena that can serve as year-round community assets. CareFirst’s work with DC SCORES, the Washington Spirit and other organizations reflects a commitment to reaching young people through the activities and relationships that are already part of their lives.
Young Washingtonians are artists, athletes, scholars, neighbors and leaders. They are not waiting to become part of the city. They are already shaping it.
A healthy city does more than tell its young people where they cannot be. It creates places where they are welcomed, where they can build relationships and where they know they have a stake in what happens next. When we invest in belonging, we are investing in safer neighborhoods, healthier communities and a stronger future for the District.
When young people feel that they belong to their community, they are more likely to care for it. And when a community makes room for its young people, the entire city becomes stronger and healthier.
