ACTIVATE

Income Inequality

South LA

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative

Underserved youth in low income communities have less access to safe places to play, less access to healthy nutritious food and lack resources that would help break cycles of oppression. These inequities disproportionately impact youth of color. Without intentional intervention, cycles of poverty, obesity, addiction, incarceration, lack of education and mental illness will continue to rise, especially for youth. Often, adults are fighting for their own injustices around diversity, equity and inclusion. We forget the youth are experiencing them too. Ageism silences youth's voice which impact mental health as well as intrinsic motivation to change their own circumstances. Hierarchies of power, adults vs. youth, creates division. Youth are increasingly turning to drugs in order to cope with life's stressors. They are becoming addicted to the dopamine release to numb feelings. Exercise releases dopamine too, but drugs are more accessible than safe places to play.

Program Activate takes co-horts of 30 underserved youth from South Central, Los Angeles to participate on a day trip promoting physical activity once a month. The 10 month program aligns with the school year, September- June. Potential Physical Activities include: 1. Runyon Canyon Hike 2. SoulCycle Class in Studio City 3. Bike Riding in Venice Beach 4. Kayaking in Catalina 5. Snowboarding In Big Bear 6. Hot Yoga in Redondo Beach 7. Gym Class Full Body Workout @ Equinox in El Segundo 8. Swim Aerobics in Baldwin Hills 9. Pilates in Beverly Hills 10. Beach Field Day in Malibu We will set health and wellness goals with the youth to track and monitor throughout the school year and revisit each month with mentors. Each participant will be assigned a mentor that will do weekly 1-1 wellness check-ins with them. During each day trip, youth will also discover new healthy meals as we expose them to healthy restaurants that promote healthy eating habits. They will be encouraged to try new foods and learn how to choose healthier options. We will choose youth to participate by partnering with local schools physical education Departments and Deans, specifically to target those that may be struggling with obesity, mental health or behavioral concerns and are in need of a positive outlet and incentive.

Program Activate is going to empower South Central Youth to change the narrative and statistics of childhood obesity, addiction, incarceration, lack of education and poverty. Each participant will experience an improvement of their own mental and physical wellness as well learn how movement can be used as a positive coping skill to navigate through lives stressors. They will be able to go back into their communities to be change makers and have positive influences on their peers, being the representation for the outcomes that happen when you prioritize movement as a wellness practice. Transformations of the mind, body and soul will be evident through the accomplishment of health and wellness goals. As a pilot program, our results will be so powerful, health and wellness organizations will want to partner with TheGiveGo and sponsor more co-horts of youth annually to participate in ACTIVATE as an initiative to create wellness equity for underserved youth in South Central Los Angeles.

For the participants, we will create an intake survey to obtain initial data about their fitness levels, behavior and attendance in school, academic achievement and overall feeling of wellness. We will complete a fitness assessment, request behavior referral information from their school as well as a progress report/ report card. Throughout the program, we will set goals for each area surveyed and track/monitor improvement during the duration of the program. At the end of the program we will conduct a final survey to measure growth towards goals and compare Beginning of Program data to End of Year program data. We will set goals for fitness assessments to improve, behavior referrals to be reduced, attendance to improve, sense of wellness to increase and grades to meet grade level expectations.