The University of California 4-H Center for Youth Development has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grant will support community-based programs for at-risk teenagers in Alameda, Sonoma and Trinity counties.

The funding is for "Project PITCH: Partners Investing in Teens' and Children’s Health," which promotes the healthy development of young people by encouraging proper nutrition and physical fitness and by channeling their energies toward productive activities. The grant from the USDA's Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) initiative will provide Project PITCH $150,000 in annual funding, renewable for five years, according to project director Marc Braverman, a UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development specialist based at UC Davis.

"The CYFAR Initiative is one of the major ways in which USDA is striving to reach important new audiences for Extension programs across the United States," Braverman said.

Each of the three programs uses a different approach.

Teens 4 Teens: Teen Peer Health Education Project will be based out of the health center at Tennyson High School in South Hayward. This school is located in a low-income, ethnically diverse suburban community in Alameda County. Youth in Alameda County are at particularly high risk for sexually transmitted diseases. The county has the highest rate of gonorrhea and females aged 15 to 24 have the second highest rate of chlamydia in the state.

Teens 4 Teens focuses on two critical areas of youth development: adolescent health education and youth leadership development. "The program will train teenagers to become peer health educators and provide health education to teens enrolled in an elective class that they will help to develop," said Charles Go, UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor, who is the program's community site director.

Topics in the course will include pubertal changes and hygiene, nutrition, exercise, depression, coping skills and conflict resolution. The peer educators will also work with adults through a youth advisory board and as advocates for teen health issues through community service projects. The Tennyson Health Center, Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center and the Alameda County School-Based Health Center Coalition are partners in the project.

4-H Bloco Drum and Dance Program will be based in the suburban community of Windsor in Sonoma County. UC Cooperative Extension 4-H youth development advisor Evelyn Conklin-Ginop is the community site director for the program.

The program will involve middle- and high-school youth in creative dance and rhythm activities that are geared toward encouraging a healthier lifestyle through exercise and improved diet. Santa Rosa Junior College and Cooperative Extension will provide food demonstrations, fruit and vegetable tasting and healthy snacks at each rehearsal to teach the participants about nutrition. The drum and dance activities include African, Brazilian, Caribbean and Cuban influences and will foster an appreciation for diversity.

For the past two years, Conklin-Ginop guided the Bloco drum and dance as a pilot program, which attracted 25 youth the first year and 50 the second year.

"We have experienced great response from the community for this program," said Conklin-Ginop. "It has attracted many 'at-risk' young people who often do not participate in other organized youth activities such as sports, clubs or school activities."

It is modeled on the Carnaval Loco Bloco program, which has been very successful in reaching children in San Francisco's Mission District. The Bloco program's other partners include the Windsor school district and police department, and the Sonoma County office of education.

The final 4-H Bloco performance until September will be held in Windsor Square at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 16.

Healthy Lifestyle Building: Human Response Network Youth Center Project will be located in Weaverville and Hayfork, rural towns in Trinity County that have suffered economic setbacks from mill closures. Twenty-eight percent of the county's population lives at or below the poverty level, 48 percent is eligible for food stamps, and 54 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced school lunches.

UC Cooperative Extension community and economic advisor Gail Goodyear is the community site director for the project. She will provide youth centers with activities designed to help youngsters develop and expand their life skills such as job skills, entrepreneurship, financial management, community participation and ability to use social and health services. The project will also attempt to deter troubled teens from crime.

Many community agencies are contributing to this project, including Trinity County's probation department, resource conservation and development district, and health and human services. Other local partners are Planned Parenthood, Superior Economic Development District and Alcohol and Other Drug Services.

Congress has funded the CYFAR initiative each year since 1991 to help Cooperative Extension support community-based projects for at-risk youth and their families. California is one of 13 states to receive funding this year for CYFAR New Communities Projects. The CYFAR initiative is administered by USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension System.