Youth Health Watch (YHW) began as an after school program in 2011, and is now a 501.c3 nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles, California. At YHW, we believe that youth are powerful agents of change and should be empowered through school-based programs to uplift the health of their families, peers, and wider communities.
In collaboration with New Designs Charter School, YHW utilizes the community health worker model to address the wide disparities in health among underserved communities in Los Angeles. YHW educates, trains, and mentors high school students from these communities and empowers teens to become agents of change within their homes first and foremost, among their peers, and eventually their wider communities. YHW equips teens with the tools they need such as healthcare advocacy, disease prevention education, and health system navigational skills. With increased knowledge and competencies regarding how to help loved ones (parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, etc.) access quality healthcare, the teens can then go on to transform the healthcare decisions and behaviors of their family unit, peers, and neighbors.
The ultimate goal of YHW is to expand this model to schools across California, the United States and eventually abroad to build an army of youth community health workers striving to improve access to healthcare for their families, neighbors, and peers – one school, one home, and one community at a time.
There are number of different ways you can get involved with Youth Health Watch. We are actively seeking volunteers to help our ongoing efforts, as well as partnerships with schools and other youth organizations. We are also very grateful for donations that allow us to expand our work into new schools and communities. If you’d like to know more, please reach out via our CONTACT page.