The funding will support Alamance Youth Connected, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Becca Bishopric Patterson, assistant director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, received $60,000 from SHIFT NC (Sexual Health Initiatives For Teens) for her project, Alamance Youth Connected.
The project is funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Luis Garay, director of the Gender and LGBTQIA Center, will serve as interim director of the project and Lauren Feeley, program assistant for Student Involvement, will serve as project administrator while Bishopric Patterson is away on family leave.
Alamance Youth Connected (AYC) is a three-year initiative to develop and implement a community-wide, systems-thinking approach to prevent teen pregnancy, teen births and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and achieve a 5 percent reduction in the teen pregnancy, birth and STI rates (as compared to 2018) in Alamance County by 2023 by integrating and expanding evidence-based programs (EBPs), reaching more priority youth populations, linking youth to health care and supportive services, and raising community awareness.
SHIFT NC will be partnering with Elon University to focus on the reduction in the transmission of STIs and unplanned pregnancies in youth ages 15 to 19 in Alamance County. This grant especially focuses on youth with marginalized identities, particularly Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA.
To reach these goals, the main grant activities include scaling up the implementation of evidence-based sex education curriculums, linking youth to healthcare resources and supplies, and mobilizing the community to support and sustain these efforts. Elon will hire undergraduate students to serve as Peer Educators who will receive training on evidence-based, comprehensive sex education curriculum that covers consent, boundaries, STIs, pregnancy, protection and contraception.
This curriculum is designed to be LGBTQIA inclusive and will help provide youth and young adults with language and strategies to communicate effectively with healthcare providers about their sexual health.