75K over next three years for Somerville youth prevention initiatives, with a special focus on females
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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and Somerville Cares About Prevention (SCAP) are pleased to announce a $25,000 grant, renewable for three years, awarded to SCAP to fund youth-focused prevention initiatives in Somerville.  Awarded by The Community Health Network – Area 17 and supported by the City of Somerville, the Somerville Health Department, and the Somerville Office of Prevention, the grant will provide funds to support projects that address a variety of identified health priorities including substance abuse, bullying, mental health and youth access to services through the promotion of social norms and utilizing social marketing strategies promoted through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

“This grant supports our City’s commitment to the youth of Somerville and their families.  We have been voted one of the 100 Best Communities for Yong People for four  consecutive years due to the commitment of programs like ours working to address the ever-changing needs of our youth through projects like this.  Youth leadership in our community continues to expand with each of these efforts with the support of these vital funding sources,” said Lovelee Heller, SCAP Community Organizer.

The target population for this grant is middle school, high school, and college-aged youth in Somerville as well as parents and caregivers of these populations.   Special emphasis will be placed on reaching female youth as the Somerville Student Health Survey data has shown elevated risks for this population over the last several years.

“I think it’s great that this grant will have a special focus on girls because typically when people think of substance abuse they think of boys but really girls are the ones using and I think it’s because we experience a lot more pressures than boys do,” said Ariela Esmurria, 15, SPF100 Youth Leader.

Project activities will involve numerous collaborations and partnerships among many community agencies and organizations including the Somerville Public Schools, Somerville Health Department, Somerville Police Department, Somerville Women’s Commission, and Somerville Community Access Television.

“We plan to engage a number of youth focused community agencies in this project to harness their wealth of expertise and maintain the sustainability of our efforts for years to come.   Additionally, SCAP will provide gift card stipends to Somerville Middle School, High School, and College youth who volunteer to help plan and implement project initiatives.   Parents will also receive gift card stipends for volunteering to help create peer messages and online mini-trainings to prevent child substance abuse,” stated Heller.   “We know that community engagement is the best strategy for addressing these issues – they are the experts!   SCAP truly believes together we can make a difference and our data shows this approach really works!”

For more information please contact:  Lovelee Heller, SCAP Community Organizer in the Somerville Health Department at 617-625-6600 x4322 or lheller@somervillema.gov.