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#52tuesdays: Teen Health Connection

This year, Teen Health Connection is celebrating 25 years of service to teens and families in the Charlotte community. Over the last 25 years, the organization's work has stayed true to its mission: to improve the health of adolescents by providing physical and mental healthcare services, education, advocacy and research through connections with teens, parents and the community. Since 1992, Teen Health Connection has provided more than 171,000 comprehensive healthcare visits to teens and families with 9,063 comprehensive healthcare visits provided in 2016 alone.

Teen Health Connection participated in #GivingTuesdayCLT last fall and saw giving during the campaign period increase substantially from prior years and they gained new donors in the process.  Teen Health Connection is using its #GivingTuesdayCLT funds to support its community-based prevention and education programs, including The Big Picture and Youth to Youth Southern States Leadership Conference.

The Big Picture is a dynamic health education and community outreach initiative that is solely written and performed by and for teens. Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this youth initiative addresses the current trends and health-related issues facing teenagers today, with a focus on positive behavioral and health choices. Every year, The Big Picture is performed at the McGlohon Theater with school and community performances during the month of April. This year’s performances run April 17-20.

The Youth to Youth Southern States Leadership Conference is a one-of-a-kind conference experience engaging youth in positive change. By attending this four-day conference, adolescents meet and befriend drug-free teens from all over the country, develop skills to make positive choices, attend interactive and informative workshops and develop action plans to create change in their schools and communities. During the summer, adolescents in Charlotte are offered a tremendous leadership opportunity through participation in the Southern States Leadership Conference. This year, Teen Health Connection is hosting its second annual Southern States Leadership Conference from July 17-20 at Queens University.

“The funds we receive in support of our community outreach programs allow donors to partake in life-changing opportunities for our youth," said Libby Safrit, Executive Director of Teen Health Connection. "Specifically, with the Youth to Youth Southern States Leadership Conference, teens are able to develop leadership skills with a focus on substance abuse prevention through a clear no-use message. Teens also come to know that not every teen experiments with drugs and alcohol, that they can be peer leaders who care about their community."

At Teen Health Connection, we serve an often unrecognized vulnerable population -- adolescents. This includes adolescents from all socio-economic groups across Mecklenburg County. The programs and services provided by Teen Health Connection directly and intentionally meet the unique developmental needs of teens during an oftentimes tumultuous period of their lives. Our community-based prevention and education programs are targeted to teens to help them become or remain substance free and to help them develop the skills they need to be healthy, productive citizens.

#GivingTuesdayCLT is a way for Teen Health Connection to participate in a global giving day through a local giving initiative. Participation helps to raise awareness about our mission, the teens we serve and the programs and services we offer to meet their unique needs. Participation also gives us the opportunity to share the work we do with the broader community and, likely, some constituencies we have not reached in the past.

But ultimately it’s not what involvement in #GivingTuesdayCLT means to the organization as much as what it means to the teens they support.

“I have never been around so many adults that believe whole-heartedly in the power of youth,” high school student, Sara Kaitlyn Moye said after attending the 2016 Southern States Leadership Conference. “I am no longer waiting to unleash my potential, but I am living it right now. I will forever live with the confidence, purpose and courage that I gained by attending conference.”

Because substance abuse remains a critical issue impacting teens, Teen Health Connection is thankful for its donors for supporting the health and wellbeing of our community’s teens.
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