The Urban Youth Health Ambassadors (Health Ambassadors) program engages and supports Latino and African American youth ages 14-19 in service learning health projects in Washington Heights. The program provides experiences that will help improve youths’ perception of themselves and what they can accomplish and their role as socially responsible citizens within their communities.

The Health Ambassadors program can seriously improve Latino and African American youths’ self efficacy, self esteem, health awareness, job readiness skills and application of academic knowledge and skills. The following strategies will be used to achieve the above goals:

• Youth Leadership and Development: Youth increase self efficacy and perceive themselves as competent and integral members of a team by taking on turns co-facilitating planning meetings, conducting community research and becoming agents of change.
  
• Community Engagement: Health Ambassadors conduct a community health survey that identifies a health issue residents believe is most affecting their community and then design a service learning project to help raise awareness of the identified health concern and offer prevention strategies.
  
• Career Exploration: Guest speakers in the fields of public health, public relations, etc. help inform the project. Youth also have opportunities to explore different careers through participation in the Exploring Career Exploration Program.
  
• Civic Participation: Youth prepare and make 2 presentations reporting on their health survey findings at Community Boards 1 and 12 meetings and seek the Community Boards’ assistance to help raise awareness of the issue.

The program is offered every Friday at the Ft. Washington Collegiate Church in Washington Heights as an after school program that will meet one day a week for 3 hours during the Spring semester. The program is scheduled to run from February 13 to June 13, 2008.

2007 Challenge Yourself to Eat Healthier Children's Poster Contest