Healthy Protective Activities for At-Risk Youth

In October of 2005 ARCH Institute was awarded another Compassion Capital Funds (CCF) grant to establish healthy protective community activities for at-risk youth. The current approved one-year CCF grant that ARCH Institute obtained in October, 2005, will partner with Bethel Methodist Church to focus on "Creating Ongoing Protection of Youth"© for Black and Hispanic youth ages 12 to 18 who reside in the Two Brothers Estate in Frederiksted, located on the West Coast of St. Croix.

This particular community's low socioeconomic level, tolerant attitude towards substance abuse and at-risk sexual behaviors, and need for positive alternative activities for youth will be the focus for this project's implementation of positive activities for young people to "copy".

Bethel Methodist Church, established in 1989, has been an integral part of the community for many years and has struggled to have the resources to consistently serve the children in this community, as did their sister church Ebenezer in Estate Richmond in Christensted. This project's focus, similar to the one conducted with Ebenezer Church in FY04 will be to:

• mentor/train church leadership and membership in effective community outreach and empowerment strategies;
  
  
• conduct a focused needs assessment for the Two Brothers Estate and immediate surrounding community, targeting education and preventative intervention needs of youth and families;
  
  
• design and effectively implement preventive interventions targeting substance abuse and other problems within the target community, and
  
  
• develop relationships and mechanisms with local government and educational institutions and businesses to provide resources and expertise required for sustained, effective program operation.