H.Y.P.E. Program Promotes Healthy Community to Area Youth
On Thursday, July 17, participants in the Healthy Youth Peer Education Program (H.Y.P.E.) will present creative multimedia work exploring themes of youth leadership, advocacy and community change.Monday, July 14, 2008 01:59 PM
The presentations, at 11 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m. in Miller Forum, Muhlenberg College, culminate an intensive one-month program exploring youth perspectives on what a healthy community looks like. A light lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. The event celebrates the achievements and discoveries of ten Allentown young people, and seven peer mentors.
Trained as advocates and researchers using methodologies from public health, community media and the creative arts, HYPE youth from diverse backgrounds collaborate to develop their voices as advocates for changing lives, communities, and possibilities. Their poetry, digital stories, dancing and theater testifies to the role of youth as a powerful force for change, transcending labels and stereotypes. Their work is an urgent reminder that all youth have a right to make a meaningful contribution, and that adult allies can create space to allow a positive environment for their voices and visions to be fostered and shared.
Now in its third year, H.Y.P.E. is sponsored by the Caring Place Family Health Program, Department of Family Medicine, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, with support from the Dorothy Rider Pool Healthcare Trust. Collaborating partners include Touchstone Theater artists and faculty from the Departments of Political Science and Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College.
This event is free and open to the public.
