FY 2024 Volunteers of America Chesapeake SPF-PFS Program: Building Bridges to Hope - The Volunteers of America Chesapeake and Carolina (VOACC) will serve the communities of Newport News, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, and Franklin Virginia in helping to reduce the onset and progression of substance misuse and its related problems by supporting the development and delivery of community-based substance misuse prevention. The proposed program will expand and strengthen the capacity of local community prevention providers to implement evidence-based prevention programs through the delivery of evidence-based substance misuse prevention at the community level. The area has a combined estimated population of 300,000, the majority identify as Black/African American (51%); 49% identify as White; Latino/Hispanic population is 7%; American Indiana population 2%. 51% of the population identifies as female.17% of the population is under the age of 18; 36% are age 65 or older. The unemployment rate is 7%; medium income (Bureau of Economic Analysis/BEA) is $29,000. The Estimated Population Below Poverty (Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates/SAIPE) is 20%. The area has the highest state concentration of veterans, 16.4% of the area population. Target Audience: Youth, LGBTQ, Pregnant Women, Military/Veterans, Individuals in Recovery. Goal 1: Increase the capacity of community organizations, including faith-based partnerships, parents, coaches and youth to reduce high-risk behaviors that contribute to substance use (and relapse) through community outreach, workshops/trainings. (Psychoeducation Groups – Workshops/Training). Objective 1: Conduct 5 specialized workshops per year targeting high risk population: Youth, LGBTQ, Pregnant Women, Military/Veterans, Individuals in Recovery. Objective 2: Develop and implement a social media campaign to educate on high-risk behaviors and provide information and resources to support reduction of high-risk behaviors. Goal 2: To reduce substance, use relapse through community-based partnerships and collaborations. Objective 1: Refer individuals in need of additional support to substance use case management services. Objective 2: Strengthen collaborations and integration of services through existing youth focused programs, including reentry, gun violence prevention and education/job training. Objective 3: Identify and train 2 community members to become certified peer specialists to lead prevention workshops and trainings. Objective 4: Offer 2 Mental Health First Aid training to community partners per year. Through these, VOACC will 2 monthly messaging and community outreach over the 5-year program, for a total of 108 activities. The projected number of individuals to be reached is 15 monthly for a total of 1,620. The social media outreach is estimated at 2,400.
