September 2009 Promising News

...from the President & CEO

Welcome to our New Newsletter!
In an effort to communicate with our supporters on a more regular basis, I'm very excited to introduce our new, monthly e-newsletter, G-CAPP Journal. At a time when we're seeing a 3 percent increase in teen pregnancies , frequent and effective communication of the issue and our significant work toward eliminating teen pregnancy is critically important. Over the next several weeks, we will be rolling out more functionality to our new communications strategy that we hope you will find useful and informative.

G-CAPP's New Platform in Pregnancy Prevention: Getting to Zero

G-CAPP has had to think differently about how to advance its mission more effectively at the same time revenues are declining. In the last two years we have seen an increase in teen pregnancies in Georgia, reversing a decade of progress. Now more than ever we need to make sure more teachers, parents and others are enrolled in the frontline directly educating young people with knowledge and skills necessary to avoid the tragic consequences of becoming adolescent parents. This means redirecting investment away from small scale direct service programs to initiatives that are scaled to transform how schools and communities effectively address teenage pregnancy prevention. Here's what G-CAPP will do:

train teachers train, parents and youth professionals in programs proven effective in preventing teen pregnancy to reach thousands of middle and high school students;
build active partnerships among local organizations so communities can attack the problem with a coordinated approach based on local consensus;
provide education, life skills, and social/emotional support to already parenting teens to reduce the high rate of repeat teen pregnancies that ranks Georgia as the second highest in the nation.

Through these efforts, G-CAPP will lead the way in growing statewide expertise by engaging thousands of providers, teachers, schools, parents and young people who are currently waging a fragmented battle all across the state. Bringing pregnancy prevention working to scale and connecting individuals and organizations to build a cohesive and effective plan to end teen pregnancy is the most realistic way to get to zero.

Thank you for your continued support. We need it now more than ever.

Michele Ozumba

G-Power and You

It's a fundraiser. A community. A movement.

In May G-CAPP launched www.gpower2009.org, a micro donation/community mobilization web site. Simply put, its goal is to raise support and awareness for teen pregnancy prevention in Georgia, and beyond. We see it as a powerful combination of information, action and generosity.

G-CAPP's latest initiative brings together a collective voice of stakeholders, families, parents, teachers, schools, organizations, allies, and advocates across the state (and beyond) for a common good - to invest in teen pregnancy prevention. For as little as $15 visitors can power the cause with a one-time donation, images, messages or videos creating a virtual mosaic or "gPOWER Grid" as it's called. The goal is to build a community of 20,000 individuals whose voices represent the power of one as well as many in bringing about positive change for young people.

Every day in Georgia, 62 teens become pregnant which translates to more 22,000 teen births a year at an annual cost of $91 million to Georgia taxpayers. And most states, including Georgia, is seeing an uptick in teen pregnancies. The need for action has never been greater. The funds raised from gPOWER will be used to train teachers in comprehensive sex education curricula, provide resources to schools to implement effective programs, and work directly with young people in advocating for knowledge and skills necessary for responsible decision making about their health and futures.

The "G" in gPOWER stands for many things and everything relevant to our work - girls, guys, graduation, generosity, Georgia, gift, give, galvanize... G-CAPP needs you to name your "G," then go to www.gpower2009.org and join scores of individuals who have powered the grid. You have the power!

Second Chance Successes

One Young Mother at a Time

G-CAPP hosted nearly 50 teen mothers from across the state at its annual Second Chance Homes residents' conference in June. The conference is an opportunity for pregnant and parenting teens, who reside in G-CAPP's network of Second Chance Homes, to take advantage of an array of training and educational opportunities. It's also an opportunity to bring all of the young women together to share experiences and support each other as parenting teens. All of these teen mothers and mothers to be have found a safe haven in Second Chance Homes because they lack family support and have no other place to call home.

The young mothers were moved by the experiences, challenges and accomplishments of Mrs. Georgia, USA, Chiffon Jenkins, the keynote speaker at the conference and who, herself, was a teen mother. They were also inspired by nine of their Second Chance Home peers who were recognized for graduating high school or college, an achievement that many teenage mothers find it very difficult to do. The attendees took part in workshops and discussions on education and career planning, sexual health, and dating and domestic violence.

GCAPP operates 11 Second Chance Homes with numerous community partners in seven counties. The community partners are: Families First and Tapestry Ministries in Fulton County; Pearls for Girls in Dekalb County; House of Dawn in Clayton; Twin Cedars in Troup and Muscogee counties; the Family Support Council in Whitfield County; and the Vashti Center in Thomas County. Each home accommodates four to eight teen mothers. Some may spend months at Second Chance, others may spend years but the main objective for each girl who walks through the door is to break the cycle of teen pregnancy and to gain long-term self sufficiency.

In Her Own Words...

A Youth Advocate Speaks

G-CAPP works with a number of youth from around the state to get their voices heard. The Student Youth Leadership Council is a group of dynamic young people who are actively engaged in mobilizing their peers to bring attention to the teen pregnancy epidemic and the need for better sex education. Here, Erica Green, a passionate 17 year old from Savannah, which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state, speaks of her experience as an advocate and why she chooses to be in the trenches on this issue.

Statistics show that in 2007 the total number of young females ages 10 to 19 pregnant in the city of Savannah, Georgia were 685. These are all mothers under the age of 20. This happened to someone's daughter, niece, cousin, friend. I know it happened to my friend. She wasn't "fast" or stupid, as they say are the reasons why young girls get pregnant, but she was ignorant to the fact that it could happen.

I don't want my friends to become statistics. They are just more than just numbers and that applies to every young girl out there. Our future is left in our own hands and we must do something about it. My name is Erica Green. I'm 17 years old and I am a youth advocate for teen pregnancy prevention. I attend A.E. Beach High School. It isn't the best neighborhood and the students aren't exactly the best either for that matter, but there I had a health teacher that realized the curriculum wasn't working and decided one day to call in outside help, a trained health department professional, to give us a better understanding of the matter. Many of my peers rarely get the proper education on abstinence, safe sex, and what the consequences are if you choose not to practice these. Fortunately, I had a parent who wasn't shy about teaching me from an early age what was right and what was wrong. I was also able to be a Teen Peer Counselor at the Coastal Health District in my community. There I was educated properly and able to relay the correct information back to my peers. It helped dispel some myths, for example, whether you could get pregnant the first time or not. Unfortunately, not everyone was able to have the education I had.

I participated in a campaign to help prevent teen pregnancy, We came up with several different slogans. For example: What do you want first, your high school diploma or your newborn's birth certificate? Do you want to plan a play date for your kid or do you want to plan a real date with your friends? We were able to post billboards with various slogans like those all around our city. It was a positive way to get our point across and they were noticed by many people. What made thebillboards so interesting is that we took photos of everyday teen aged girls, like myself, holding signs that had the slogans on them. So as our peers were driving along or walking, they would see a familiar face that was letting them know there are options other than getting pregnant.

I believe that a comprehensive sex education class should be a requirement that all youth should have in both public and private school systems, even in religious establishments. Sometimes we would like to ask mom and dad, but we are afraid they will be too judgemental, or mom and dad are too nervous to talk about it themselves. It is more effective when a trained professional who has answers to those questions that we want to ask but are too afraid to do so. I will do all I can to help this become a reality. I personally think that abstinence is the best policy but not all my peers agree with me and that is why proper education of safe sex is important. It is imperative that we as youths be the best we can be and provide a productive future for all generations to come.

Who's News
New Hires

Beth Kargel, who joined the staff in July as Development Director brings a demonstrated commitment to girls' issues and community, as well as extensive experience, to the position of Development Director at G-CAPP. Beth has worked for her alma mater, all-female Wesleyan College in Macon, GA, in many capacities and most recently as Major Gifts Officer. She led fundraising efforts at the Atlanta Women's Foundation and Hands On Atlanta, and she was founding Development Director at the Atlanta Girls' School. Beth serves on the Board of Odyssey Family Counseling Center.

Bev Jones G-CAPP's new Communications Director. Bev has held key communications positions in various industries, most recently in financial services with Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, where she managed media relations. She also has led public relations/communications efforts in health, higher education and philanthropy, including communications management positions at The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, the Arthritis Foundation (national office), and The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.