The ACHIEVE Program: Bringing Chicago Youth and Community Organizations Together to Impact Local Disparities

Monica Kowalczyk; Jeronimo Najarro; LaTonya Hill; Todd Barnett; Anna Volerman

doi:10.1007/s10900-024-01357-2

journal article Open Access Apr 14, 2024

The ACHIEVE Program: Bringing Chicago Youth and Community Organizations Together to Impact Local Disparities

Monica Kowalczyk Jeronimo Najarro LaTonya Hill Todd Barnett Anna Volerman

Journal of Community Health Vol. 49 No. 6 pp. 1001-1009 · Springer Science and Business Media LLC

View at Publisher Save 10.1007/s10900-024-01357-2

Abstract

AbstractTo evaluate the Advancing Community Health and Individual leadership through a noVel Educational (ACHIEVE) program uniting Chicago high school and undergraduate students (scholars) and community organizations to empower youth to meaningfully impact communities while enhancing organizational capacity. Between 2020 and 2022, the ACHIEVE program engaged cohorts of youth in classroom-based learning and community-based projects targeting health and education disparities. Pre and post-program surveys were administered to scholars to assess knowledge about disparities, skills, and self-efficacy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with community organization leaders to examine programmatic impact. Descriptive and thematic analyses were performed. Across four cohorts (March 2020; September 2020-May 2021; September-November 2021; March-May 2022), 85 students participated in the ACHIEVE program. Scholars supported 19 community-based projects that increased awareness of local issues and resources and evaluated programs. Scholars reported advancement in their knowledge and skills as well as interest in sustaining their community engagement. Leaders shared several benefits at the organizational and community levels from collaborating with scholars. The ACHIEVE program enabled bidirectional learning between scholars and organizations. It also demonstrated that youth can contribute positively to addressing disparities while supporting local organizations and communities.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

24

[1]

Schencker, L. (2019). Chicago’s lifespan gap: Streeterville residents live to 90. Englewood residents die at 60. Study finds it’s the largest divide in the U.S. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-chicago-has-largest-life-expectancy-gap-between-neighborhoods-20190605-story.html. Published June 6, Accessed June 26, 2023.

[2]

Whitman, S., Silva, A., Shah, S., & Ansell, D. (2004). Diversity and disparity: GIS and small-area analysis in six Chicago neighborhoods. Journal of Medical Systems, 28(4), 397–411. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:joms.0000032854.99522.0d. 10.1023/b:joms.0000032854.99522.0d

[3]

Educational Attainment and Household Location: The Case of Chicago’s Lakefront - Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Accessed October 28 (2022). https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/economic-perspectives/2010/4q-testa-sander.

[4]

City of Chicago, Chicago Department of Public Health Healthy Chicago 2025 Closing Our Life Expectancy Gap 2020–2025. Published online 2020. https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cdph/statistics_and_reports/HC2025_917_FINAL.pdf.

[5]

Milton, B., Attree, P., French, B., Povall, S., Whitehead, M., & Popay, J. (2012). The impact of community engagement on health and social outcomes: A systematic review. Community Development Journal, 47(3), 316–334. 10.1093/cdj/bsr043

[6]

Zeldin, S. (2004). Preventing youth violence through the promotion of community engagement and membership. Journal of Community Psychology, 32(5), 623–641. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20023. 10.1002/jcop.20023

[7]

Ballard, P., & Syme, S. L. Engaging youth in communities: A framework for promoting adolescent and community health. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. 70(2):202–206. 10.1136/jech-2015-206110

[8]

Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs Develops Common Language on Positive Youth Development. youth.gov Accessed November 8, (2022). https://youth.gov/feature-article/interagency-working-group-youth-programs-develops-common-language-positive-youth.

[9]

Effectiveness of Positive Youth Development Programs. youth.gov Accessed November 9, (2022). https://youth.gov/youth-topics/effectiveness-positive-youth-development-programs.

[10]

Rashied, & Henry (2012). Kweli. Engaging Minority High School Students as Health disparities interns: Findings and policy implications of a Summer Youth Pipeline Program. Journal of the National Medical Association, 104(9/10), 412. 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30194-2

[11]

Johnson, K., Collins, D., Shamblen, S., Kenworthy, T., & Wandersman, A. (2017). Long-term sustainability of evidence-based Prevention interventions and Community coalitions Survival: A five and one-half year follow-up study. Prevention Science, 18(5), 610–621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-017-0784-2. 10.1007/s11121-017-0784-2

[12]

Gorman-Smith, D., Bechhoefer, D., Cosey-Gay, F. N., et al. (2021). A model for Effective Community-Academic partnerships for Youth Violence Prevention. American Journal of Public Health, 111(S1), S25–S27. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306280. 10.2105/ajph.2021.306280

[13]

Wilson, M. (2023). Out of School and Out of Work 16 to 19 and 20 to 24 Year Olds in Chicago and Cook County in 2017. Published online May 3, 2019. Accessed May 23, https://greatcities.uic.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/OutofSchoolOutofWorkData_May2019.pdf.

[14]

University of Chicago Medicine. Community Health Needs Assessment 2018–2019 (2019). :331 pages.

[15]

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2012). Thematic analysis. APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology, Vol. 2. Research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, neuropsychological, and Biological (Vol. 2, pp. 57–71). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/13620-004. 10.1037/13620-004

[16]

Goodman, R., Speers, M., & Wallerstein, N. (1998). Identifying and defining the dimensions of Community Capacity to provide a basis for measurement. Health Education & Behavior, 25(3), 258–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819802500303. 10.1177/109019819802500303

[17]

Niederdeppe, J., Bu, Q. L., Borah, P., Kindig, D. A., & Robert, S. A. (2008). Message design strategies to Raise Public Awareness of Social Determinants of Health and Population Health disparities. The Milbank Quarterly, 86(3), 481–513. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0009.2008.00530.x. 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2008.00530.x

[18]

Benz, J. K., Espinosa, O., Welsh, V., & Fontes, A. (2011). Awareness of racial and ethnic Health disparities has Improved only modestly over a decade. Health Affairs, 30(10), 1860–1867. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0702. 10.1377/hlthaff.2010.0702

[19]

Goldin, N. (2023). Key Considerations in Youth Workforce Development. Published online January 28, 2015. Accessed February 28, https://www.csis.org/analysis/key-considerations-youth-workforce-development.

[20]

Moldoveanu, M., Sarkar, U., Lee, S. Reaching yes: Addressing the Youth Employment and Skilling Challenge. Published online December 2021. https://www.generationunlimited.org/media/5201/file/UNICEF-PwC-GenU-reaching-yes-thought-leadership.pdf.

[21]

Spievack, N. (2019). For People of Color, Employment Disparities Start Early. Urban Institute; Accessed August 23, 2023. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/people-color-employment-disparities-start-early.

[22]

Heinert, S., Del Rios, M., Arya, A., et al. (2019). The CHAMPIONS NETWork: Training Chicago High School Students as health advocates to Improve Health Equity. Health Promotion Practice, 20(1), 57–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839918757755. 10.1177/1524839918757755

[23]

Ferrera, M. J., Sacks, T. K., Perez, M., Nixon, J. P., Asis, D., & Coleman, W. L. (2015). Empowering immigrant youth in Chicago: Utilizing CBPR to Document the Impact of a Youth Health Service Corps Program. Family and Community Health, 38(1), 12–21. 10.1097/fch.0000000000000058

[24]

Nordin, N., Khatibi, A., & Azam, S. M. F. (2022). Nonprofit capacity and social performance: Mapping the field and future directions. Manag Rev Q Published Online September, 27, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-022-00297-2. 10.1007/s11301-022-00297-2

Metrics

2

Citations

24

References

Details

Published: Apr 14, 2024
Vol/Issue: 49(6)
Pages: 1001-1009
License: View

Authors

Funding

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Award: K23 HL143128

Hymen Milgrom Supporting Organization Award: Hymen Milgrom Supporting Organization

Cite This Article

Monica Kowalczyk, Jeronimo Najarro, LaTonya Hill, et al. (2024). The ACHIEVE Program: Bringing Chicago Youth and Community Organizations Together to Impact Local Disparities. Journal of Community Health, 49(6), 1001-1009. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-024-01357-2

The ACHIEVE Program: Bringing Chicago Youth and Community Organizations Together to Impact Local Disparities

You May Also Like