Healthy Generations Project-A program of Community Initiatives

Description

HGP employs community members directly to supply the "prescriptions" needed to build resiliency in children through programs that improve bonded relationships, teach coping skills, enhancing community identity and traditions, and prevent further trauma. Our programs include the Walking School Bus; HGP’s Community Health Leaders walk children to school so they are protected, cared for, improve attendance, and arrive ready to learn. Our Parent-Child Activities are dinners with fun, literacy-based play and activities that also produce opportunities for bonding among family members and improve community connections. HGP’s wellness workshops teach adults about the harmful effects of trauma, how to build resiliency in their own lives through awareness, self-care, referrals for services when needed, and healthy relationships.

HGP has been shown to improve literacy, and parent and adult extended family members who participated in HGP programs overwhelmingly reported higher engagement rates and increased feelings of empathy for their children. By building a platform that actualizes residents’ strengths, HGP has steadily and successfully improved health and educational outcomes for youth in the Potrero community. Children who attend HGP show increased scores for "resiliency", the ability to "bounce back" from adversity. The peer staffing model of HGP has created positive outcomes with ripple effects for all members of the community.