the hub of Tallahassee's food movement
youth engagement
preparing youth to participate
Preparing Youth to Participate (PYP) is a project rooted in the Tallahassee Food Network and is in partnership with the Whole Picture of Health, a health and wellness initiative. The PYP project is a public health intervention that utilizes leadership development to engage the youth voice in activities to eliminate and prevent childhood obesity. The objectives of the PYP project is to improve knowledge and increase awareness of child health and wellness and to engage youth in actions that include peer-to-peer sharing of knowledge and the influence of supportive policies. This training program is distinct in that it includes a community gardening youth leadership component designed in efforts to promote strategy that families can use to have access to healthy and quality food for their wellness.
Each group participated in training that includes youth empowerment/leadership development, public speaking and physical activity. They have begun to make community presentations and we anticipate youth members of each group being instrumental in the future endeavors to prevent childhood obesity.
The Tallahassee Youth for Change (TYC) is focused on analyzing Tallahassee's food environment through the Photovoice project, a process that engages community voices and allows people to identify, represent, and enhance their community. In the TYC project, the youth voice is engaged; participants are given digital cameras and empowered through conversation and education to act as promoters of child health and wellness. The youth take photos of their environment and they use the photos to inspire conversations related to the issue of childhood obesity prevention and to envision strategies for change that include policy recommendations.
tallahassee youth for change
Featured in Tallahassee Woman Magazine are the founders of PYP & TYC; in consideration of the need to sustain efforts toward building youth leadership, Dr. P. Qasimah Bostond and Dr. Tonetta Y. Scott partnered to launch both the Tallahassee Youth for Change and Preparing Youth to Participate.