The Greater Fort Erie Chamber of Commerce

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2010
For Youth By Youth – Making a Difference in the Health of Our Communities

Engaging youth in programs, services, and events is a never-ending challenge – too often, adults do the planning without including youth and end up with less than satisfactory results. The issue of youth engagement is the impetus for our project titled the Bridges Community Health Centre Youth Health Promotion Strategy: a peer-led, youth engagement approach to enhance the health of youth in Fort Erie, Port Colborne, and Wainfleet. Funded in part by Niagara Region through the Niagara Prosperity Initiatives, the project focuses on finding solutions for engaging youth in issues related to health and poverty and creating a strategy to enhance the health of our youth.
Bridges Community Health Centre (CHC) hired four part-time youth health promoters - Grade 11 students from Port Colborne and Fort Erie - to lead the development of the youth health promotion strategy for our catchment area, which will include priority setting, action items, and the creation of a set of youth-friendly service guidelines. To engage local youth in the process, the youth developed a “youth voice” survey tool and are using a variety of avenues to seek youth input, including attending events and festivals, visiting local community partners providing services to youth such as the Job Gym, holding their own rock concert in Port Colborne, and posting an on-line version of the survey on survey monkey. The on-line survey can be accessed at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/33NMF5H.
In the fall, the youth health promotion team will hold some focus groups to further develop the strategy and plan for one or two youth health promotion initiatives to be held in the Three Bridges and Fort Erie North neighbourhoods, two of the seven priority neighbourhoods identified to receive Niagara Prosperity Initiatives funding for 2010.

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Bridges Community Health Centre is funded by the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Local Health Integration Network. Community Health Centres meet the needs of their communities through the delivery of comprehensive primary health care services with a focus on health promotion and community development.

Media Inquiries can be directed to:
Rhonda Barron
Bridges Community Health Centre
Email: rhonda.barron@bridgeschc.ca
Phone: (905)871-7621 ext. 2226
Fax: (905)871-9135