YWCA Announces CDC Funding, Expanding House of Teens Programming

The New Britain YWCA has announced that new CDC funding will allow it to train more youth community health workers, as part of the House of Teens program.

The YWCA says that it is one of 150 organizations in that nation that, “have been awarded grants from the CDC Foundation to aid health equity and vaccination efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The new funding, the YWCA says, will be used to train more youth community health workers, “and grow its COVID-19 recovery team,” which, it says,

is focused on reducing vaccine hesitancy, disseminating information about the COVID-19 pandemic, and addressing health and social inequities on New Britain’s East Side.

The, “training academy -part of the college and career ladder -linking teens to jobs in the public health arena,” the YWCA says, is part of the programming of the, “House of Teens program, located in the East Side Community Center (ESCC) at 600 East Street.”

The YWCA says that the youth community health worker training academy was launched in early 2021, “thanks to support from the Aetna Foundation.”

The YWCA said, in February 2021, that the youth community health workers role is to,

screen and monitor COVID-19 related health needs of family and friends to then provide intensive trauma-informed outreach to link families with resources to address mental health and physical health needs.

The YWCA says that the House of Teens program, in addition to the community health worker (CHW) training academy,

offers youth an on-sight behavioral health clinic with one-on-one counseling, trauma informed fitness and nutrition classes, civic engagement and advocacy opportunities, pregnancy prevention programming

“Through efforts such as community outreach, vaccination events, and social media campaigns,” the YWCA says, “the youth CHWs are establishing themselves as trusted health ambassadors to their families, friends, and other residents as they earn credit towards a state certification as CHWs.”