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ISSUE NUMBER 2 / OCTOBER 2021
variant? What are your methods for adapting to these ever-evolving updates?
The health, safety, and well-being of GCAPP’s staff, partners, and youth served continues to be our top priority as we navigate the pandemic. We continue to leverage our now expert use of digital tools and platforms to conduct trainings, meetings, and conferences in a virtual format. Further, when gathering, we are ensuring that we maintain masking and social distancing recommendations.
What are some upcoming projects or initiatives GCAPP has coming up in late 2021/early 2022? What are you excited about for the near future?
We are excited to accelerate the momentum and success of our Youth Advisory Council into the next phase by implementing our Youth Advocacy Strategy. GCAPP’s Youth Advisory Council is a youth-driven initiative, immersed in Georgia communities, to advocate for holistic health awareness for teens and young adults. Currently, the Council is comprised of 40 young people (up from 29 members in 2020) ages 14 to 24 years old, representing 16 counties across the state.
Through adolescent development research, we know that in addition to positively impacting a wide spectrum of individual health, social, emotional, and academic outcomes, engaging in activism and civic engagement can create positive community and social change. This power and potential of Georgia’s youth presents a call to action for GCAPP and the foundation for our Youth Advocacy Strategy.
The Youth Advocacy Strategy will provide youth development and advocacy training to Youth Advisory Council members and other youth leaders to enable the formation of community-based Youth Action Teams. These teams will work to identify and address the health-related challenges impacting their peers in their communities and then to create and implement Youth Advocacy Plans to address their local challenges. Through this initiative, we
will equip young people with the skills and tools needed to serve as advocates in their communities focusing on leadership, advocacy, and activities to address adolescent health disparities and help drive policy change.
To learn more about GCAPP, you
can visit their website at
www.gcapp.org