Youth for Youth (Y4Y)
Who We Are
Broomfield Youth for Youth (Y4Y) is the youth advisory group for Broomfield Communities That Care (CTC), a community coalition that uses prevention strategies to reduce youth substance use. Y4Y is focused on three areas to help teens lead healthy lives:
- Youth substance use prevention
- Improved well-being
- Forming positive relationships
We value a group atmosphere that is open-minded, empowering, inclusive, fun, and, most importantly, youth-led! Learn more about CTC.
Y4Y Positive Norming and Marijuana Project, Summer 2022
Y4Y has wrapped up another summer project! In Summer 2022, our 14 advisers (including 10 new members!) learned about marijuana use among youth in our community, and how to use strengths-based messaging to promote healthy choices and positive perceptions of young people. They also built skills in public health, prevention science, how to use data, marketing strategies, and how to communicate on social media and to people in the community.
Y4Y used all these skills and data from the 2021 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey to promote positive community norms around youth marijuana use. Y4Y shared these messages with the Broomfield community at National Night Out on August 2.
Want to know more?
- Visit Y4Y’s Instagram to see more messaging and meet the advisers.
- Read about the project from adviser Nwanma.
- Listen to Aditya, Cameron, Raghav and Ryan discuss marijuana use in youth in Y4Y’s latest podcast episode (find links in Social Media section).
Social Media
Follow on Instagram @BroomfieldY4Y, and listen to our new podcast "Sincerely, Teens" wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts, and Youtube). If you are interested in learning more, please email youth4youthinfo@gmail.com.
Resources
Y4Y developed a great mental health support & resource guide for teens during COVID-19. Find it here.
| iMatter Funded by the state of Colorado, this program provides up to 6 free behavioral health sessions for youth in Colorado. | |
| Rise Above Colorado This program empowers youth to live a life free of drug use. | |
| Below the Surface This program aims to connect teens to Colorado Crisis Services by texting "TALK" to 38255. |
Y4Y Photovoice Project, Summer 2021
In Summer 2021, Y4Y focused on a Photovoice Project about “community connection”. Fifteen Y4Y advisers were given the prompt: “What things help or prevent you from being connected in your community?” and were then asked to record and reflect on this question through photography and critical dialogue with the group. The advisers met with community members and stakeholders in the community to share their key takeaways and come up with next steps to help break down barriers to youth accessing prosocial opportunities and connection in the community. See all the photos and takeaways from the project here.
Y4Y Sources of Strength Community Resiliency Project, Summer 2020
This summer, Y4Y focused on a youth and community priority, “connectivity and resiliency”, which is particularly important during the current state of quarantine due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Sources of Strength (Sources), a comprehensive wellness and resiliency-building program, served as the guide in creating an empowered community, where young people and adults learned to develop and/or recognize their support systems and lean into their strengths, to raise the level of wellness in our homes and community. Sources is designed to harness the power of peer and community networks to change unhealthy norms and cultures, ultimately preventing suicide, bullying, and substance abuse. Y4Y advisers were trained as Peer Leaders in Sources and are partnering with Broomfield Community Members in an effort to support the emotional health and wellness of our community. For more information, email youth4youthinfo@gmail.com.
Find out more at: