CDC funds new initiative to address youth sexually transmitted disease rate disparities in Erie County
In the face of national cuts to adolescent health funding, HOPE Buffalo, one of the Erie County Department of Health's and CAI's teen pregnancy prevention projects, has been successful in securing a federal grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for almost $1 million over three years for the Community Approaches to Reducing STDs (CARS) initiative. This initiative aims to implement evidence-based strategies to reduce disparities in STD rates among African American and LGBTQI adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24.
Effective Sept. 30, the CARS team began working as part of HOPE Buffalo's community action team to engage community members, stakeholders and youth. Adapting HOPE Buffalo's community mobilization model, community members, youth and stakeholders will work together to identify what is contributing to disparities in rates of STDs, as well as take part in developing and implementing solutions. CAI will serve as the backbone organization in partnership with ECDOH to resource and coordinate all initiative activities.
This effort will include embedding a Social Determinants of Health Fellow within ECDOH to work closely with Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein and her team.
"This award would not have been possible without the support of the HOPE Buffalo community," said Stan Martin, project director of HOPE Buffalo. "As a result, we are able to address the social determinants of health and reduce health disparities amongst those with some of the greatest needs."
HOPE Buffalo's community partners, among other supportive CAT members to date, include:
- ECDSS-Adoption and Family Services
- Buffalo Federation of Neighborhood Centers
- Buffalo Public School District
- Buffalo Police Athletic League Inc.
- City of Buffalo, Department of Community Services and Recreation
- Evergreen Health
- Greater Buffalo United Ministries
- Kaleida School Based Health Center
- Kaleida Health
- Millennium Collaborative Care
- Neuwater Associates LLC
- Ss Columba-Brigid
- United Way of Buffalo and Erie County
For more information, or to join the CARS effort, send an email message to
[email protected]. Visit the HOPE Buffalo website at
www.hopebuffalo.org to take the pledge for healthy teens.
