PARTNERSHIP PROFILES

With an ever-growing demand for the services and programs provided by local nonprofits and grantmakers often not interested in serving as the sole funder of a program, nonprofits are regularly encouraged to obtain funding from multiple sources to support a single program. Our current Partnership Profile is between Girls Incorporated of Lynn, a nonprofit organization serving local girls, and two local funders, The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and Tufts Health Plan. Together, these organizations have established a commitment to girls’ health that W&G is pleased to profile.

Girls Incorporated of Lynn
Girls Inc. of Lynn has been operating programs and advocating for girls since 1942. They are a local affiliate of the national organization Girls Incorporated, formerly Girls Clubs of America, known for its widely acclaimed, research-based informal educational programs. Their mission is to inspire all girls to be strong, smart, and bold by meeting the needs of girls in the community, developing girls’ capacity to overcome the effects of discrimination and be self-sufficient, responsible members of the community, and by serving as a vigorous advocate for all girls. Translating this mission into action is the goal of their innovative programming.

Girls Inc. of Lynn finds an important piece of helping girls grow strong, smart, and bold is enabling them to take charge of developing and maintaining fit healthy bodies and minds and to function comfortably as responsible sexual beings. They provide a range of health programs that address the needs of girls throughout their development as well as programming to address the specific needs of adolescent girls who are for the first time making their own choices around nutrition, physical activity, substance use, and sexual activity. To help guide them in their decision making, Girls Incorporated regularly offers programs that provide up-to-date and accurate information in a safe supportive environment.

Mi Vida/Mi Viaje (My Life/My Journey) is a science-based teen pregnancy prevention program targeted to girls who have a pregnant and/or parenting sibling. The model provides individual case management throughout the middle-school and high-school years with linkage to a broad range of services and programs in the community that promote healthy decision making in all major life areas. A full-time case manager works closely with each girl and her family to ensure they participate in existing Girls Inc. programs and/or other community programs that prevent teen pregnancy, substance abuse, STDs and HIV/AIDS, as well as promote academic success, offer exploration of career development options, and increase life skills. The case worker also conducts a fitness and nutrition group for the Mi Vida/Mi Viaje girls, taking them to the local YMCA to participate in spinning classes, swimming, racquet ball, and a newer form of exercise called punk rope. On the opposite week of the YMCA visit, the girls learn about nutrition through cooking activities, which focus on an aspect of nutrition such as understanding food labels, portion size, a balanced diet, and the food pyramid.

With support from the Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Girls Inc. of Lynn has also been able to offer Health Bridge, a sexuality education program for at-risk girls and young women as well as their parents and caregivers. Health Bridge is a three-part program beginning with a parent-only workshop that provides information and support so parents will feel comfortable discussing sexuality issues with their daughters. Girls Inc. has found many parents are either too liberal or too strict about their adolescent's sexual behavior, and they do not talk with their children because they do not know how, are afraid, or think scare tactics will work. Offering the parent-only workshop first also helps secure support of the parents for their daughters' participation and can address any concerns they may have about the girl-only program.

The second part is a girl-only program featuring Will Power/Won't Power, a national Girls Inc. sexuality education program, that is a series of interactive sessions designed to help girls ages 12-14 delay engaging in sexual activity by recognizing, exploring, and practicing attitudes and skills for dealing with health and sexuality as they enter the most pressure-sensitive adolescent years. This ten-session assertiveness program covers puberty, reproduction, menstruation, and all of the surrounding issues such as values, dating, healthy relationships, assertiveness, sexual myths and facts, how to recognize and resist sexual pressure from peers and the media, the benefits of abstinence, and avoiding risky situations.

The third part of Health Bridge is a workshop, which brings parents and daughters together to review information and strategies through interactive games, discussions, and role-plays, opens the door to future communication. Parents/Caregivers have a chance to try out their role as their daughter's primary sexuality educator and daughters see their parent/caregiver as a trusted adult they can talk with about sexuality issues. The workshop concludes with a celebration recognizing the growth and learning that has taken place. Health Bridge was successfully conducted at Girls Inc. during the winter and at a local housing development in the spring of 2007.

The high-school-age members at Girls Inc. learn about health-related topics in their various programs and are also given the opportunity to share what they have learned with other youth and adults in the community as peer leaders. Teen Health Ambassadors educate their peers about healthy relationships, decision making, and prevention of teen pregnancy, STD’s, and HIV/AIDS. These peer leaders are highly trained and respected in Lynn, reaching some of the most at-risk teens in the community.

Teen Health Ambassadors do outreach to peers, twice weekly and more often in the summer, with staff from the North Shore Medical Center’s teen health van to reach teens where they are. Girls Inc. evaluates outcomes regularly, so if a specific population needs to be reached, the work plan, advertising, or location of the van is altered as needed. In 2006 more than 500 teens were served by this collaborative project, which was funded by the Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare Foundation. Currently, as many as 55 teens visit the van on any given day.

Samantha Soto, a Teen Health Ambassador, says, “Being a Teen Health Ambassador means that I have the power to make a difference in at least one person’s life, and by doing just that I know I’ve done my job right.”

“Teen Health Ambassadors play an effective role in the community and take ownership of their projects, “ says Markyse Dorceus, a Lynn resident and immigrant who attended Lynn school and serves as the adult advisor for the Teen Health Ambassadors. “All Lynn girls have a promising future, but they need someone to show the way, to be the light, and that is what the Teen Health Ambassadors do.”

To learn more about Girls, Inc. of Lynn and their efforts to inspire girls to be strong, smart, and bold, click here to visit them online or contact Patricia Driscoll by email or phone at (781) 592-9744 ext. 226.

The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation has been funding Girls Incorporated of Lynn’s Teen Health Ambassador program for the past four years through their Massachusetts Community AIDS Partnership initiative. This relationship began with a $15,000 grant in 2003 and since that time the Foundation has provided over $110,000 to support the program. “Our investment in Girls, Inc. of Lynn's Teen Health Ambassador program is revered by our Advisory Board for their innovative HIV prevention outreach to at-risk girls in a community where resources are severely limited,” said Michael Devlin, Community Service Program Manager at the Foundation. “This program has been an effective tool in preventing HIV risk in Lynn.”

Created in 1980, The Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation supports Harvard Pilgrim Health Care’s (HPHC) mission to improve the health of the people they serve and the health of society. With funds raised from external sources for research and teaching, HPHC has provided a lifetime total of more than $100 million to support the Foundation’s mission. The three key parts of the Foundation are: Community Service, the Institute for Linguistic and Cultural Skills, and the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention. The Foundation awards more than $1 million in grants annually for community grants/service efforts. In 2007, the Foundation, in partnership with HPHC, launched Growing Up Healthy – a five-year information, leadership, and program initiative to support health weight for children in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. For more information on the foundation and the good work it is doing in our communities, click here.

Tufts Health Plan
Tufts Health Plan has provided support to Girls Inc. of Lynn for Health Bridge program, the three-tiered sexuality education program for girls and their parents/guardians, through its Community Partnerships program. Formed in 1997, the Community Partnerships program supports health improvement at the community level through prevention and health promotion activities within target populations of underserved, at-risk women and infants, elders, and teens. Through its Community Partnerships program, Tufts Health Plan seeks to support, advance and advocate for public health goals and community-based prevention. For more information on the program and its efforts to promote the health and well being of communities throughout Massachusetts, click here.