Y Street Leadership Team Networking Event
In-Person Event Description
Join the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) and Y Street for a no-cost networking luncheon at the Omni Richmond Hotel. Attendees will meet and greet with nationally recognized Y Street Youth Leaders and enjoy a meal in the luxury hotel’s refined Southern hospitality that meets the contemporary atmosphere.
What is Y Street?
Y Street is a 100% youth-led movement that drives campaigns that focus on obesity and tobacco prevention. Since 2004, Y Street has meaningfully engaged high school students in promoting community health, formed partnerships with 90+ schools, and trained more than 10,500 youth to educate their communities and influence policy change.
In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) included Y Street in a guide of initiatives across the country demonstrating best practices for tobacco prevention and control. These youth were featured for their work in helping schools across the Commonwealth of Virginia go tobacco- and e-cigarette-free.
Our classroom-based prevention programs reach about 50,000 children statewide in public schools
Our video library offers a wealth of information about our programs and grants. Sign up and view!
If you have any questions about funding, please reach out directly to your Regional Grants Administrator.
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Investing in our young people is a wise but seemingly daunting undertaking. Positive youth development encompasses research-driven practices that have proven to be effective in building skills in teens.
The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth employs social marketing principles and techniques to improve the welfare of people and the physical, social, and economic environment in which they live. It is a carefully planned, long-term approach to changing human behavior. By means of effective communication campaigns, we help the Virginia youth make healthy lifestyle choices.
For example, “Behind the Haze” is a campaign to educate customer-owners about the dangers of smoking and Vaping. VFHY runs many of these campaigns on a semi-regular or ongoing basis. The objective is to reduce and prevent youth tobacco and nicotine use, substance use, and childhood obesity. VFHY receives no taxpayer funds and is funded solely by a small share of Virginia’s annual payments from the nation’s major tobacco manufacturers through the Master Settlement Agreement.
Elements of Effective Prevention Programs
There is a multitude of effective substance abuse prevention interventions that may have different areas of focus and can be implemented in a variety of settings. Interventions can involve the family, school, and community and may provide substance abuse prevention for an individual or a population of youth by focusing on environmental and community factors and policies, developmental factors, or skill development. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has identified 16 key principles for prevention programs based on risk and protective factors, the type of program, and the delivery of the program.
