DanversCARES is proud to be a federally funded Mentor of the Tri-Town Council Youth Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, an earnest, fledgling group of citizens and stakeholders interested in growing a coalition like DanversCARES, to address teen substance abuse in the Tri-Town Area.
This blog is set up for communities to post questions about coalition development and prevention activities. Danvers community partners will share some of the wisdom, programs, experience, tools and research that others may benefit from.
This initial set of questions was asked at our Mentoring Roundtable in January, 2012 by Tri-Town community members.
Mentee Q1: Considering the business of youth in extra curricular activities, how can young people engage in coalition committees and youth activities which support youth assets?
I can see how many students find it hard to make time in their busy day-to-day lives; yet we encourage them to participate in after- school activities and coalition work on top of their other responsibilities. One way to accomplish this is to have an on-going working relationship with other youth leaders, coaches, student club advisors, etc. and encourage shared programing or collaborative ideas, rather then always doing a separate activity and pulling kids in yet another direction. For example, is there something you are doing that fits with Honor Society, Diversity Club, or YMCA after programming? Coalition work is teamwork and building on the positive things that may be already happening in the community.
DanversCARES Youth Outreach Coordinator
Peter Spiros