About
In order to combat the alarmingly high numbers of youth that engage in risky behaviors which include (Substance Abuse, Violence, Domestic Violence, Bullying, CyberBullying & Teen Pregnancy), YOUR Community Center started the Great Opportunities for Advancing Leaders (GOAL) program in 2007. The program is a risky behavior prevention program that combats these risky behaviors in a unique way. The staff is trained to engage the youth in round-table discussions about the importance of developing good life skills, which include (Communication Skills, Decision Making Skills, Assertiveness Skills, Combating Negative Peer Pressure Skills and Leadership Skills). Once the youth have these skills, the staff trains them in the importance of knowing how to detect when a situation is becoming risky, how to successfully defuse that situation and how to ensure that their peers understand that they have positive short-term and long-term goals that they do not want to effect by engaging in one or more risky behaviors.
The YOUR Community Center staff goes into the Health Education classes in partnering DC Public and DC Public Charter Schools to implement the GOAL program. The organization also partners with other Community-Based Organizations to provide meaningful risky behavior prevention workshops to parents to help them to communicate detect or prevent their kids from engaging in these risky behaviors.