Teens travel to Boston to support after-school programs
February 6th, 2010
Natalie Nyambura’s best friend got pregnant, Nyambura knew exactly what to do and what care her friend should seek. The skills the 16-year-old Nyambura used to help her friend were learned in the Teen Outreach Program at the Lowell Community Health Center.
“Teens in my city of Lowell would really benefit from these programs,” Nyambura said Thursday at the 5th annual Afterschool and Expanding Learning Opportunities Advocacy Day at the Statehouse. “Lowell has the ninth highest pregnancy rate in the state, which is pretty alarming.”
The Advocacy Day was hosted by the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership, an umbrella organization for different summer and afterschool programs around the state. Part of Thursday’s message to legislators was the impact last year’s 60 percent cut in funding had on the program.
Executive Director Gwynn Hughes said these programs are essential for children, who need some sort of structure.
“We know (these programs) work for the kids,” she said. “We see them doing better in school, not getting into trouble.”
Nyambura is part of a teen pregnancy prevention program. The group meets twice a week to talk about issues that affect young women, such as stereotypes, communication, the female anatomy and sexual health.
According to the Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, there were 22 births to every 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19 in Massachusetts in 2007. The national rate in 2007 was 42 births to every 1,000 teens. In Lowell, there were 54 births to every 1,000 teens.
Hughes said about 600,000 school-age children are involved in after school programs, about half the youth in Massachusetts.
“We want to provide programs to the 1.3 million youths in Massachusetts,” she said.
Many programs under the partnership are funded by the Afterschool and Out-of-School Time Quality grant, which received $5.5 million from the state in fiscal year 2009. Last year the budget was cut to $2 million, the same level of funding proposed again by Gov. Deval Patrick in the budget he released last week.
“It’s a bare-bones budget,” said Hughes. “In some towns we’ve lost a lot of summer programs; some have had to cut back on the hours. That has had a direct impact on the kids.”
Hughes said the partnership is pleased that Patrick hasn’t cut more from their grant.
Nyambura said participating in these programs has “inspired” her.
“I got to discover new things about myself,” she said. “I think the most important lesson that I’ve learned is to feel empowered as a woman. We can do anything that a man can do, maybe even better.”
Stephanie Buchholz, a staff member for Nyambura’s program, said she notices a boost in confidence in the participants.
“They understand more about themselves,” she said. “They are becoming our future leaders.”
Buchholz said the outreach program has other teen groups such as violence and substance abuse prevention. While those who participate benefit, Buchholz said they do not have the resources to make a huge difference.
“We’re just a drop in the bucket,” she said. Of the 3,400 students at Lowell High School, only about 200 participate.
Julie Albert, a spokesperson for the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership, said she hopes the advocacy day makes an impact on legislators. “The programs are already functioning with so little,” she said. “(The legislators) are forcing programs to make choices they shouldn’t have to make. That’s the future, we’re all going to be relying on them.”
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