Teen Outreach kicks off new HOPE Consortium
The SW PA Teen Outreach announces its kickoff meeting for its newly formed HOPE Consortium.
The consortium will gather community youth-serving agencies together at 4 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Common Ground Teen Center (92 N. Main Street, Washington).
Teen Outreach is a Certified Hope Informed Organization through HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) https://positiveexperience.org/. Two Teen Outreach professional staff, Amy Podgurski-Gough and Heather Crowe, are certified HOPE Facilitators and Heather Crowe is in training to be a HOPE Champion.
The HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) framework is a strengths-based, research informed approach that focuses on how Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) contribute to healthy development and long-term wellbeing. Central to the framework are the four Building Blocks of HOPE, which represent key areas of a child’s life that, when supported, foster resilience and thriving. Studies demonstrate how PCEs can ease the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). ACEs have been shown to negatively affect physical and mental health through adulthood.
There are seven PCEs identified to lower depression, substance use, and long-term negative adult health issues: 1. Ability to talk with family about feelings; 2. Feeling supported by family in difficult times; 3. Engagement in community activities; 4. Feeling a sense of belonging in high school; 5. Feeling supported by friends; 6. Having at least two non-parent adults who genuinely care; 7. Feeling safe and protected by an adult at home.
The purpose of the Teen Outreach HOPE Consortium is to empower youth-serving agencies to focus on PCEs, to collaborate with initiatives that enable PCEs to be significant parts of a child’s life, and to work together to provide better long-term outcomes for our community’s children. All youth-serving adults are welcome. Participation in the HOPE Consortium is free.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski at mpodgurski@teenoutreach.org or the Teen Outreach office at 724-222-2311.