The Young Women'S Project

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“Ywp builds the leadership and power of young people so that they can transform dc institutions to expand rights and opportunities for dc youth. Ywp programs engage youth on three levels - as peer educators, advocates, and employees - and guide them through a process of personal growth as community leaders who are able to analyze problems, identify solutions, and advocate for change. Founded in 1994, ywp has a staff of 6 and manages two offices. Ywp is value-driven, anti-racist, feminist, grounded in youth development and partnership, and works every day to dismantle oppression and rebuild institutions.”

“P2p-sbmh (peer to peer school based mental health program, dbh funded). This program overlaps significantly with the mental health campaign (mhc). With the overall goals of reducing stigma and the impact of toxic stress and trauma, increasing school-based mental health services, and expanding school-based mental-wellness education, the school-based behavioral health student peer educator pilot program (sb-bh p2p) trained and supported a cadre of more than 122 youth staff leaders (ages 14-19) from 30+ dc public schools who will use education, referrals, social media, and student on- line support (sos) virtual wellness centers to educate to engage 12,032 peers and connect them to mental health services. P2p-sbmh youth staff reached 12,032 peers with mental health education and support including 11,013 through classroom presentations and 2,120 with weekly resources and skills-focused information. Youth connected 2,879 directly to counselors and mental health providers. More than 65% of youth staff and youth reached will live in high poverty neighborhoods and wards 5, 7 and 8. With the overall goals of reducing stigma and the impact of toxic stress and trauma, increasing school-based mental health services, and expanding school-based mental-wellness education, the mental health campaign trained and supported a cadre of more than 122 youth staff leaders (ages 14-19) from 30+ dc public schools who used education, referrals, social media, and student on-line support (sos) virtual wellness centers to educate to engage 12,032 students (including 2,200 each week with personalized messages) through training, text chats, social media, and presentations, covering 10 health issues including toxic stress, resilience building, sleep, trauma, anxiety, healthy relationship building, consent, conflict resolution, meditation, mindfulness, breathing, brain science,, depression, substance use, suicide, nutrition, and accessing school based and city-wide mental health services. We also connected more than 2,400 youth to counselors and other supports, presented 42 testimonies to dc council and submitted 82 written testimonies, and conducted a survey with 1,040 students from 36 schools including 16 dcps and 14 public charter schools, 3 private, and 3 middle schools living in all dc wards with significant representation from wards 7 and 8 (30% of survey takers), 4 (24%) and 5 (15%). Since 2020, ywp peer educators have conducted an annual youth mental health & wellness survey--documenting high rates of youth stress, depression, and isolation and low rates of service access. We used the survey findings and our experience to educate teachers, counselors, principals, and agency leaders on the needs of youth - who are still in crisis with high rates of depression (31%), suicide (14%) and high stress (77%). Finally, mhc deepened the role of our l2 (advanced) youth leaders this year: 12 l2 mhc youth leaders served as trainers for new staff, implementing a 8 hour curricula including substance use, nutrition, food deserts, and nutrition. Engaging l2 youth allows us to maintain larger teams and be able to deliver the curricula in smaller groups.”

“The youth advisory council (yac) the dc youth advisory council (dc yac) engages 30 dc youth from all wards and several schools who engage and develop as leaders, workers, and healthy youth. Yac members develop their ability to successfully navigate transitions, build meaningful relationships, achieve personal goals, increase agency, and improve personal health outcomes. They also use their leadership and skills to increase health care quality and access for their peers, with health education, social media, advocacy, and community outreach events. The 2023-24 yac team includes 30 youth from 13 dc public high schools who contributed to program outcomes in yhep and mhc. Yac youth leaders educated 300 peers with weekly vpsa messages, reached 2,250 through classroom presentations, and distributed 7,000 condoms.”

“Youth health educator program (yhep) - young people come into our organization as peer educators through the yhep, a partnership with dc health and dcps, where they work in their schools and communities educating their peers, distributing condoms, and referring youth to clinics. Youth staff earn 15 an hour, work on teams and with a manager, apply their skills, develop professional behavior, and put together a portfolio of work products. In 2021, we hired and trained 182 youth staff from all wards and 24 public schools, who engaged more than 12,000 of their peers through health education, social media, and referrals that connect youth to essential mental and sexual health resources. In year one, peer educators engage in a rigorous curriculum that teaches sexual health and peer education as well as life skills;”

“Youth justice campaigns (yjc) - in year two, youth educators join the yjc, where they work as advocates and organizers to advance a bold advocacy agenda based on the real-life issues, and leverage their power through collective action to advocate for change and improve youth-serving systems. Ywp has 40 youth advocates meeting twice a week and working on four main campaigns: increasing youth and career opportunities, expanding school-based mental health services, improving public education through youth engagement in transition planning and budget decision-making, and expanding youth voting rights.”

“Licenses & fees 34 0 0 licenses & fees 72 0 0 licenses & fees 7 0 0 licenses & fees 3 2 2 stipends 20,273 0 0 stipends 40,419 0 0 stipends 1,132 1,099 1,099 stipends 8,062 0 0 food 2,512 0 0 food 1,172 0 0 food 85 83 83 food 251 0 0 staff meeting 134 0 0 staff meeting 286 0 0 staff meeting 29 0 0 staff meeting 9 10 10 payroll fees 1,354 0 0 payroll fees 2,901 0 0 payroll fees 98 96 96 payroll fees 290 0 0 bank charges 86 0 0 bank charges 18 0 0 bank charges 185 0 0 bank charges 6 6 6 dues & subscriptions 52 0 0 dues & subscriptions 112 0 0 dues & subscriptions 11 0 0 dues & subscriptions 3 4 4 supplies 183 0 0 supplies 392 0 0 supplies 13 13 13 supplies 39 0 0 contractors 12,612 0 0 contractors 27,027 0 0 contractors 2,703 0 0 contractors 891 906 906 postage 99 0 0 postage 46 0 0 postage 10 0 0 postage 4 3 3 staff training 300 0 0 staff training 140 0 0 staff training 30 0 0 staff training 10 10 10 total 124,095 2,232 2,232”