DC Prevention Center Wards 1 & 2 Podcast: Recent Episodes
DC Prevention Center Wards 1 & 2
This spring, youth participants gained valuable information about a variety of drug trends and also gained knowledge of how drug prevention affects them on a constant basis through interacting with a variety of agencies and leaders in their community. Our participants led podcast style interviews with previous Youth Prevention Leadership Corps(YPLC) alumni, parents from our Spanish-Speaking Parent/Caregiver Network, and a variety of our community partners and networks that we work with on implementing prevention strategies within our wards. The goal of these interviews is to spread awareness on the importance of prevention and the many ways in which drug prevention is spread in the DC community. Thank you to the partners who participated in the interviews. There are four (4) DC Prevention Centers (DCPCs), each working within 2 Wards of the District of Columbia, and we are the center for Wards 1&2 located within LAYC in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. The DCPCs serve as a dynamic hub that engages, supports and helps connect the many community elements that are needed for promoting healthy children, youth, and families as well as a drug-free District of Columbia. The theme of the DCPC: “Strong Communities… It’s About Youth, Families, and Caring Adults.”YPLC is a program a part of DCPC and YPLC stands for Youth Prevention Leadership Corps. The program is a youth-led, adult facilitated program that works on raising knowledgeable youth who grow to become agents of change leading their communities to become healthy and drug free.
Listen in as Hope Moshi, the Youth Developer for DC Prevention Centers Wards 1&2, elaborates on the background information surrounding this podcast and the episodes to come.
YPLC youth Yoselin I. speaks with Michael Yacob the Family Center Manager at CentroNía. CentroNía is an early childhood education program dedicated to professional development to educators; and family support services in a bilingual and multicultural environment. In this episode Michael shares with Yoselin about the organization, methods they have used in order to help families and children in need and what he has done that inspired him to grow as a person. Michael also shares the importance of helping others and sharing information.
YPLC youth, Keiry G., spoke with two parents, Cony and Rocio Hernandez from DCPC Wards 1&2 Spanish Speaking Parent Caregiver Network (SSPCN). These parents/caregivers are trained on drug facts, drug trends, and prevention techniques. They then work on projects using this knowledge to create projects that ultimately increase the awareness and knowledge surrounding drug use/trends within the greater community.
YPLC youth Quinn G. had the opportunity to interview La'Risa McLennon the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Community Outreach Specialist. Their conversation includes a discussion of previous prevention strategies used by DEA and how those strategies and approaches have transformed over the years.
YPLC youth Gloria H. interviewed two former Youth Prevention Leadership Corps (YPLC) members, Estefany Carranza and Wendy Blanco. In the interview you will listen as the alumni share with Gloria about there experience from being a part of YPLC pre-pandemic and during. The alumni discuss the projects they worked on and the lessons they recieved while working on them and being in the group.
YPLC youth Keiry G. interviewed Bruce Points ,DBH Community Engagement Manager, and Elyshee Vorhees , Public Health Analyst. DC's Department of Behavioral Health(DBH) focuses on determining the initiation or first use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among youth and reducing risk factors for substance abuse for adolescents, families, and communities. Keiry has an insightful conversation with the experts as they share how prevention is important-- as it's rooted in teaching the risks that drug usage can cause and how crucial it is to spread that information, especially with youth, early on in their lives.
YPLC youth Edwin L. interviewed Bill McLeod the Executive Director at the Historic Dupont Circle Mainstreet (HDCM) a neighbordhood program dedicated to promoting and planning the improvements of the cultural, physical, and economic qualities of Dupont Circle, and maintain those improvements, to make the neighborhood an exemplary place to live, work, and play. Edwin shares with Bill the interest in business and they talk about drugs, college and the ever changing community and the dynamics within and how you need to adapt to it.
YPLC Youth Yunior G. interviews Anna Jones, the Resource Coordinator for Oxford House, a program dedicated to housing people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction. Anna shares with Yunior about how the organization functions being a democratically run, self-supporting and drug free home.
YPLC youth, John L. interviews Marshella Toldson, who is a Prevention Specialist with the Ward 2 Drug Free Community Coalition (W2DFCC) in DC. The W2DFCC is dedicated to strengthening collaboration in the community to prevent and reduce alcohol, marijuana and opioid use by youth in Ward 2. Marshella shares with John about how the organization functions in its partnerships and what they do to share prevention knowledge with youth ranging from middle schoolers to college students in the Ward 2 community.