WHO

Healthy Communities for Youth (HCFY) is a group of residents, advocates, and young adults teaming up to provide opportunities for families to have fun.

WHAT

A CDC-funded initiative, led by VCU’s Clark-Hill Institute and the Center on Society and Health

WHY

The goal of HCFY is to join with community residents and partner organizations to recognize and leverage the strengths of families and communities to foster healthy living and learning environments for youth in Richmond City. We aim to identify and address community-level prevention strategies, and promote healthy and safe communities where children can thrive and achieve their dreams.

WHERE

HCFY will support work to address community-identified priorities in the following Richmond communities:

• Mosby

• Whitcomb

• Hillside

• Bellemeade

• Gilpin

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The VCU Clark-Hill Institute, VCU Center on Society and Health, and their partners are implementing the Communities that Care model, which engages the community to use data to understand youth violence prevention and identify, implement, and evaluate multiple evidence-based community-level activities and strategies. Our approach includes “Walker-Talkers” —community outreach workers who have conversations to reach community residents to communicate information regarding positive development opportunities for youth and ways to reduce youth risk. This added community-driven outreach strengthens awareness, capacity, and collaboration to connect residents to relevant programs and services. Walker-Talkers also lead “Plain Talk” community conversations that promote strong families and share prevention messages that are relevant and meaningful for parents and caregivers.