"Working together to reduce teen pregnancy & empower teens to make proud choices in their personal goals."
Project EMPOWER Outreach Worker, Sapphire De’Bellott pictured to the right with program participants at Asheville Middle School.
From 2003-2019, Project EMPOWER (Education Means Power), Buncombe County’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative provided evidence-based curriculum to provide services to African American teens, and teens of all races through our school-based pregnancy programs. This program empowered youth to make smart choices related to their reproductive health, resulting in the reduction of both teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Our advocacy with institutional partners, such as the school system, ensured that all youth and teens were supported in their growth and learning, without threat of punishment.
Project EMPOWER implemented evidence-based curricula through the:
Asheville City Schools during school hours
Asheville City Schools after school hours through In Real Life (IRL) programming
Parental permission—a mandate by MZCD
Services Offered:
- Collaborative outreach w/partnerships
- College Tours
- Overnight for high school students
- Day trip for middle school students
- Educational Outreach to impact the drug crisis/substance use
- Incentivized gifts for participation
- Leadership & Skill-Building Activities
- Media: The Urban News & WRES 100.7 FM
- Service-learning projects with community partnerships
- Evidence-based means making decisions, developing practices, or creating programs based on the best, most rigorous research and objective data, rather than just tradition, anecdote, or opinion, to achieve proven, positive outcomes. It involves integrating scientific findings with practical expertise and considering individual needs, aiming to improve effectiveness and reliability in fields like medicine, education, and public health.
- Curricula approved by the NC DHHS Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative (TPPI)
- Staff certified in evidence-based curricula
- Classes approved by the ACS system as part of the students’ core curriculum for graduation
“Working together to reduce Substance Abuse and the Opioid Epidemic.”
Project EMPOWER’s current focus is to impact/reduce the opioid and substance abuse crisis and underaged drinking among youth and teens in Buncombe County.
- Current Focus: to reduce the Opioid Crisis & Underaged Drinking through collaborative partnership with community organizations, enhanced protective factors with individual, family, school, and community strengths that reduce the risk of substance use by:
- Building resilience
- Promoting healthy skills
- Fostering positive connections, such as strong family bonds, parental monitoring
- School engagement
- Promoting self-esteem
- Clear expectations against drug use, And,
- Community support, all of which help buffer against negative influences and challenging life events.
- Social media platforms to via The Urban News, WRES 100.7 FM to impact/reduce the Opioid Crisis & Underaged Drinking
- Leadership & Skill-Building Activities
Did You Know?
Images of Impact: The work of Mount Zion Community Development, Inc. in Photos
