Each Day in North Carolina 49 Teens Become Pregnant!

Project EMPOWER participants Statricia Bethea (left) and Tamela Collins were among the EMPOWER students visiting NC State University with anticipation of fall enrollment.

Staff Reports

Project EMPOWER has provided support services to teens and their families since 2003.
Its overarching goal: to reduce teen pregnancy and to increase school success among area youth ages 12-17.
To reach this goal, Project EMPOWER utilizes the Teen Outreach Program model which is designed to meet the needs of adolescents as they are growing into adulthood.

The Teen Outreach Program (TOP) combines curriculum-guided classroom discussion and community service work. This model is one of the program designs recommended as a best-practice model by NC Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiatives and has proven effective in increasing academic success and preventing teen pregnancy and other negative behaviors among program participants. Project EMPOWER is abstinence-based but not abstinence-only in that teens receive comprehensive sex education through staff and health educators.

In Buncombe County,
2006, there were a total or 382 teen pregnancies, Whites (310)
Minorities (72). There were a total of 295 births: Whites (241) and
Minorities (54). The state rate for teen pregnancies was 54.8% and
Buncombe County ranks 78th in the state.

The project also includes community service and service learning
components (this is part of the TOP model) and focuses on school
success through mentoring, tutoring, and individualized goal plans for
each participant. To maximize the potential of each participant to
succeed in school the project has developed relationships with
businesses and organizations that are providing scholarship assistance
to some participants.

This curriculum is provided through 3 components:
(1) Classroom-Based Component: The TOP Curriculum is implemented
in-school hours during Exploratory, PE and Advanced PE classes at
Asheville Middle and Asheville High School. PE classes and after-school
activities are held at Asheville High School & Asheville Parks
& Recreation’s W.C. Reid Center.

Participants are encouraged to explore their feelings, opinions, and
attitudes in a non-threatening, supportive, and confidential setting.
This allows participants to gain educational information and insight
and to build skills while interacting with their peers.
(2) Community Service Component: This component enhances the
participant’s self-esteem by enabling them to see themselves as
valuable productive citizens. Through community service, participants
are placed in a help-giving role rather than help-seeking role. This
places the participants in a position to “give back to the community”,
validating and enhancing their self-worth.

Program protocol encourages
participants to complete twenty community service hours per year.

(3) Service Learning: This component connects community experience and
classroom learning with the goal of ultimately impacting lives through
insight and reflection.

In addition to the class-room instruction, to date, students have participated in the following program activities:
(1) Monthly “Teen Talk” broadcast with Asheville’s WRES-LP FM 100.7
Radio Station. As a result of the last aired “Teen Talk”, Project
EMPOWER participants verbalized a desire to secure employment for the
summer. As a result, two teens have secured summer employment with the
Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) Summer Camp.

(2) College Tours: (Three Day/Two Night Stay) filled with a lot of
excitement, eating out, cultural events and attending the following
colleges and universities: A&T University, Duke University, Johnson
C. Smith University, N. C. Central University, N.C. State, UNC Chapel
Hill, UNC-G and Wake Forest University.

(3) Multi-Cultural Events: Jazz plays & concerts, Broadway plays, etc.,

(4) Parent Appreciation/ Support Group: Fun-filled educational
sessions, food and games. During the last event, parents had a blast as
they compared their sexual educational training/belief systems with
that of their children and other youth. Lots of fun…
Parents are an integral part of Project EMPOWER and throughout the
years, have been very supportive of this initiative. Project EMPOWER
would like to give a big “SHOUT OUT” to all parents and guardians, past
and present who have made this program a success. Volunteers and area
collaborators have also provided a wealth of services and knowledge to
Project EMPOWER participants, including mentoring, one-on-one tutoring,
chaperoning on field trips, and individual support to participants.

Project EMPOWER is currently serving 44 teens, 60 since July 2007 and
implements the TOP Curriculum at Asheville High and Middle Schools
during and after school. Students meet with Mount Zion Community
Development staff during exploratory classes.

Mission – Mount Zion Community Development, Inc., a 501 (c) 3
Non-Profit community-based organization focused on (1) empowerment of
the individual and community by providing spiritual, economic,
socio-economic, education, and cultural opportunities to the greater
Asheville/Buncombe County community to address the need for jobs,
housing, crime prevention, education and health care, and (2)
collaboration with local community-based organizations in the physical
redevelopment of the “Block” for housing and supportive services.

Project EMPOWER wholeheartedly thanks the N. C. Department of Health
& Human Services Division of Public Health, Women’s Health Branch
Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative for providing $75,000 to fund this
project for the past five years. For additional information, please
contact Belinda K. Grant at (828) 350-9821 or Letitia Bromell at (828)
225-8157.

You can also email us at [email protected], or visit www.mtzionmissionary.org