South Side Community Collaborative Teen Leadership Academy

South Side Community Collaborative (SSCC) Teen leadership Academy (TLA), created in 2013, is a community-based group operating at Barack Community Recreation Center, on Columbus’s south side. The SCC was the outgrowth of community conversation, conducted by Franklin County National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Columbus Recreation and Parks, Columbus Public Health Department, Maryhaven Gambling Intervention Program, Nationwide Children Hospital, and community residents.

 
 

The conversation showed there to be four pressing needs, that if alleviated would strengthen the community and reduce violence. These are:

  1. Youth employment

  2. Access to mental health services

  3. Getting outside of the neighborhood

  4. Community service

In efforts to continue to address the needs identified in the community conversation, the Teen Leadership Academy developed a youth led prevention program focused on mental health promotion. This program was led by the youth with the support of adult allies and incorporated positive youth development and youth empowerment practices. The presentation consisted of a PowerPoint that was created by the teens and delivered by the teens. This presentation included information on mental health promotion, stigma, risk and protective factors.

The project was intended to increase the awareness of the importance of mental health in south side High School students. To accomplish this, the team developed a presentation for local high school’s students that focused on recognizing good mental health and ways to enhance it. The second goal was for students to increase their involvement in the SSCC Teen Leadership Academy. This was accomplished by recruiting 42 students who became involved in the Teen Leadership Academy.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Click Here to see the South Side Community Collaborative Teen Leadership Academy’s Youth-Led Model