Peer-to-peer health advocates receive generous funding--and a new name!

Thanksgiving month is the perfect time to acknowledge the many generous organizations that make our student engagement work possible. This ten-year-old program supports student leaders to become change agents on their campus and in their communities. Our Adult Allies guide students to develop their critical thinking abilities through modules on peer support as well as on physical and mental health, and support them as they plan and execute campus and community-wide health campaigns.  

Student Advisory Board members are now called Wellness Youth Advocates.

Formerly known as Student Advisory Boards (SABs), this program was renamed this fall: Wellness Youth Advocates, or WYA is the new handle! This new name, which also playfully nods to the popular “Where You At?” (WYA) slang among teens, gives students a relatable and modern identity. WYA groups are a unique and powerful way to harness young people’s power to determine health and mental health outcomes. Throughout 2024 funders continued to show their prescience and compassion by supporting these young people.  

The Carol and James Collins Foundation is once again generously supporting an Adult Ally for the current school year. FCancer, which has long supported our students in health campaigns on cancer prevention and the HPV vaccine, has come forward again to avert tragic consequences in the lives of young people. The Green Foundation has generously continued its general operating support, used in part to support the WYAs.

Health Net beneficently supported four WYA groups in their mental health peer-to-peer work, supplying needed salary support for our Adult Allies as well as campaign supplies and student stipends. Another consistent funder is Insperity, the company to which we outsource much of our human resources needs; they also helped support the students’ mental health campaigns this year. 

Wellness Youth Advocates from Garfield High School promoting HPV Vaccinations at a tabling event.

Kaiser Permanente remains a solid partner to schools throughout the state, and their support for our SABs/WYAs has continued through Adult Ally salary and other support. The William M. Keck, Jr., Foundation is also keenly interested in sustaining efforts to improve students’ mental health; they supported this work last year for the second time. 

Over the last two years the Pritzker Foster Care Initiative has made seminal grants for curriculum development and evaluation of our peer-to-peer efforts. The curriculum revision helped us align the student modules with a new reimbursable role called Peer Support Specialist; we hope that further advocacy will provide a pre-career pathway from which students can take off into mental health career specialties. 

Two organizations stepped up to support specific schools: FundaMental Change, helmed by Angela Padilla and focused on the San Fernando Valley, helped support a new WYA at Charles Maclay Middle School in Pacoima. And we’re delighted that first-time funder U.S. Venture is supporting Jordan High School in Watts this year. 

UniHealth Foundation has made a crucial contribution by supporting two schools over a two-year period. Last but not least, the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative granted by the state’s Department of Public Health, Office of Health Equity, is supporting six of our campuses over a three-year period. This grant covers salary support, student stipends, and campaign materials as well. 

Many other funders generously contributed to general operating support and to our Policy, Oral Health, and Data xChange areas, all of which help to fuel best practices in our work with students and their campuses’ Wellness Centers. We remain grateful for the opportunity to do this work with the support of so many, and remain committed to our combined efforts to provide young people with what they need at school to embark on healthy, fulfilling lives. 

*Made possible through the generous support of Health Net.