Teens Empower and Advocate for Community Health (TEACH)
Brookview’s TEACH Program is a hands-on, interactive workshop series taking course over the academic year. It is designed to educate and empower teens to make informed choices for themselves, and to make positive impacts in a community that is struggling with Substance Use Disorder (SUD). There are 6 cohort offered. Each cohort of teens meets once a week for an hour. TEACH focuses specifically on the root causes of youth substance use and on prevention.
Brookview’s trained Youth Addiction Specialist offer a series of weekly workshops in partnership with the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Public Library. Workshops are held weekly at the Mattapan, Grove Hall, Roxbury, Codman Square and Fields Corner Branches of the BPL as well as at Brookview House’s Community Meeting space on Hansborough Street in Dorchester.
Workshop Topics address questions like:
1. What does vaping do to my brain?
2. Where can I go to get help to reduce my need for vaping?
3. What is harm reduction?
4. Why is it so hard to stop scrolling on my phone?
5. What is Fentanyl?
6. What is SUD?
7. How can I empower myself and my community?
TEACH uplifts youth voice and engages them as community leaders. By sharing information and deepening awareness of the root causes of drug use and related negative emotional health outcomes, and sharing tangible strategies for support and prevention with teens across the community, TEACH and the youth who participate are helping to address the crisis of teen substance abuse.
