The Promise Program is a collaborative effort with United Way, a national organization dedicated to community action and uplifting residents' quality of life, meant to better the lives of children and families.

Millcreek Promise was launched in 2018 by Millcreek Mayor Jeff Silvestrini, who had been first inspired to do so after seeing and learning about the success of a Promise Program chapter in Michigan, which had worked to graduate all of their students from high school and set them up to be successful in their adult lives.

The mission of Millcreek Promise is to uplift the city through fostering community and bridging divides. To do this, there are three promise areas the program gears its community initiatives around: education, health and safety, and economic well-being. Some examples of the Promise Program's work include the Millcreek Youth Council and supporting after-school programming for K-12 students across the city.

The Promise Program thrives through coordinating community effort toward accomplishing goals that benefit the city as a whole. Silvestrini recalled that when he was first elected, many residents of Millcreek came to him asking what they could do to get involved with the new city and give back. The Promise Program, he said, is a great way to participate within the community while also improving the lives of others.

Silvestrini has been a long-time advocate for investing in youth programming, saying "it's an investment in our community," and that just spending time in a school reading to kids or assisting them with homework could make a world of difference in their lives. Research has proven that investing in educational resources, after-school programming, and extracurricular engagements for youth decreases their propensity to get involved in delinquent behaviors by keeping them engaged in and out of the classroom.

As Silvestrini put it, "if we help a kid graduate from high school that otherwise wouldn't, that kid is going to become a happier, more productive person. They're far less likely to get in trouble with the law and create other societal problems, or extra expenses for police or jails." 

The Promise Program facilitates youth programming for this exact reason and provides resources to those who need them most, but who may have the hardest time getting access. Upon becoming Millcreek's mayor, Silvestrini saw the success of South Salt Lake's Promise Program in its efforts to serve the community and its most vulnerable members. The Promise Program has been able to provide after-school programs for students to create community, structure and academic support, improving the schooling environment for everyone. 

Like South Salt Lake, Millcreek is a unique Utah city in that among the population there is substantial variation among residents economic standing and level of education. Silvestrini pointed out that while this kind of gap has the potential to create divisiveness, the Promise Program actively works to provide residents with opportunities to come together and foster connections with people of all backgrounds. So, on the one-year anniversary of Millcreek's incorporation, he announced the city would be implementing a Promise Program of its own. "I just said, you know what? This is something we need to do in Millcreek," he said. 

Silvestrini emphasized that the goal of city council is to better the lives of all community members by serving the public, and The Promise Program does just that. One example of their community endeavors is the revitalization of Sunnyvale Park on the west side of Millcreek. The park was run down and located in an area with a low-income, high immigrant population. The Promise Program went into the community with survey's in four different languages to engage with children and families there to see what kind of support they could give residents. In the end, the Promise Program used federal funded community block grant money for underdeveloped communities to revitalize the park and provide a new, safe place for recreation for the community members, something Silvestrini is proud of. 

"That was an effort of our Promise Program, just figuring out what we could do for those folks and then getting to actually do that," he said. The Promise Program services also cater to adults, and Silvestrini explained that the program provides English learning classes throughout the city to help people develop new skills and assimilate easier into their new community.

Silvestrini emphasized the importance of communities coming together and bridging divides, and The Promise Program provides residents with the opportunity to engage in these practices. This year, changes in federal funding have made volunteers especially critical for supporting the programs offered through Millcreek Promise. If you're interested in getting involved or volunteering with Millcreek Promise, visit their website www.millcreekut.gov/221/Promise-Program.