FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/1/2022
Contact: Robert Nunez
(805)815-7730, rnunez@lchc.org
The Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) Awarded 1M for Youth Substance Use Prevention Strategies
LCHC Joins Cohort of 61 California Community-Based and Tribal Organizations Awarded $52 Million for Youth Prevention and Education Partnerships
Sacramento, California – LCHC has been awarded $1 Million in youth development funds over the next three years through Elevate Youth California. Elevate Youth California funds will go towards youth substance use prevention activities. Through this support, LCHC will launch the Gen Z Visionary Youth Building Empowerment (Z-VYBE) Program. Z-VYBE will implement an innovative trauma-informed upstream substance use prevention program that educates and builds power among youth in Sacramento aged 13-18 years old. The Z-VYBE program will have heavy emphasis on youth advocacy through interactive and cross-cultural civic engagement and leadership development opportunities that will nurture collective efficacy and advance a generation of youth who feel emboldened to make a difference.
“Youth leadership development has been a cornerstone of LCHC’s programmatic and community outreach efforts over the past decade – this partnership will allow LCHC to continue informing and training youth on the impacts of substance use in their schools and communities and their power to advocate, at a state and local level, for healthier schools, communities, and lives,” said Dr.Seciah Aquino, Acting Executive Director of LCHC.
“Our goal is to create positive change for the lives of our California youth starting in Sacramento. We want to foster safe spaces, where social justice learning happens and where we can encourage youth to explore their individual strengths so they may become civic leaders for their communities. I hope this program will further instill the values of healthy living through substance abuse prevention education and hopefully, change the course of young lives” said Angela Maldonado, Youth Program Manager for LCHC.
Elevate Youth California, a project of The Center at Sierra Health Foundation under contract with the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), is funded by Proposition 64 revenue, which legalized adult non-medical use of cannabis in California. Awarded partner projects will work with youth ages 12 to 26 and provide youth social justice, peer support and mentoring in low-income communities of color, including Tribal communities and LGBTQ communities.
“Elevate Youth California prioritizes youth leadership and invests in healing and community growth,” said Chet P. Hewitt, president and CEO of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. “Our new partners will work directly with youth to improve the environment of communities impacted by the War on Drugs, which has led to inequity in our health systems and the criminalization of youth in low-income communities and communities of color. California’s youth are talented, capable and ready for this investment.”
With the creation and implementation of the Z-VYBE program, LCHC joins 60 additional community-based and Tribal organizations throughout California awarded a total of $52 million for youth substance use prevention activities in this round of funding. A full list of organizations that received awards is posted on the Elevate Youth California website.
“It is inspiring to see the level of positive change that the 61 culturally responsive Elevate Youth California community partners presented in their applications,” said Marlies Perez, chief of DHCS’ Community Services Division.” As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and our young people re-engage in school and community, the third cohort of nonprofit community and Tribal partners have found innovative ways to meet the multiple complex needs of our young people.”
###
About LCHC: Founded in 1992, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC) is the only Latinx-led statewide policy and advocacy organization protecting and advancing Latinx health equity. We are a cross-sector coalition of community leaders, advocates, policy advisors, administrators and providers united by our common belief in protecting Latinx health and advancing health equity for all. Our work consists of community-centered programming, policy, advocacy development, and strategic communications. Learn more at www.lchc.org.
About Elevate Youth California: Elevate Youth California is a statewide program supporting community leaders who are addressing substance use disorder by investing in the youth leadership development and activism of youth of color and LGBTQ+ youth ages 12 to 26. Through Elevate Youth California, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation has awarded a total of $56.2 million in funding to support racially and culturally responsive, trauma-informed, population-based and place-based approaches to youth substance use prevention. Learn more at elevateyouthca.org.
