Red Ribbon Project (RRP) offers a FREE Youth Skills Building (YSB) program to all schools in Eagle County. This program has been in existence since the year 2000, and most recently has been enhanced to include the numerous issues that today’s youth are dealing with, such as substance abuse, healthy relationship building, coping with adversities, and improving communication. The YSB programs’ innovative efforts provide young people with the tools to promote healthy development, realize their full potential, and make meaningful contributions to their communities. The program fosters emotional well-being and builds a foundation for healthy decision-making.
Botvin LifeSkills Training is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations. The program is a 10-12 hour program that typically runs once a week in the area schools.
In addition to the Botvin program, RRP also offers Puberty and Maturation programs (described below) for free to all middle and high school students in Eagle County. If your school is interested in scheduling these programs, please email info@redribbonpro.wpengine.com
HUMAN SEXUALITY
Puberty and Maturation 5-8th grade
STI’s, including HIV 7-12th grade
Contraception and the Myths of Reproductive Health 8-12th grade
The word ¡Cuídate! means “Take Care of Yourself” which is the theme of this culturally based program designed to reduce HIV sexual risk and teenage pregnancy among Latino youth. Today all teens, including Latinos, face many health risks related to sexual behavior, such as pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STI’s). ¡Cuídate! helps Latino youth develop the knowledge, attitudes and skills to reduce these risks. The program emphasizes strategies such as sexual abstinence and condom use through activities that allow youth to acquire correct and reliable information about risk and disease, develop attitudes that support safe decision making, build skills to be able to abstain from sex and use condoms, and reinforce confidence in their ability to practice safer sex.
¡CUÍDATE! incorporates salient aspects of Latino culture, including familial-ism (the importance of family) and gender-role expectations (i.e. machismo, which is described as the man’s responsibility in caring for and protecting one’s partner and family). These cultural beliefs are used to frame abstinence and condom use as culturally accepted and effective ways to prevent teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
The Red Ribbon Project, in collaboration with Doctors on Call, offers free rapid HIV testing to residents of Eagle County. This initiative is funded by The Red Ribbon Project, while the testing and related services are provided by Doctors on Call. The emphasis on offering this crucial service comes in light of alarming statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, which state that in the United States, individuals aged 13 to 24 constitute over a quarter of the 50,000 new HIV infections each year. Shockingly, 60 percent of these young individuals are unaware of their HIV-positive status.
Furthermore, studies by the National Institute of Health have showcased the efficacy of community-based interventions. These interventions, which emphasize making voluntary HIV testing and counseling more accessible, have shown significant potential in increasing the number of individuals who are aware of their HIV status. More so, they play a vital role in encouraging those, particularly at high risk, to adopt safer sexual practices.
One of the primary objectives of the RRP’s Free HIV Testing program is not only to increase awareness within the community about behaviors that heighten the risk of contracting HIV and other STIs, but also to empower and educate residents through the counseling segment of the free testing program. The end goal is to enable them to understand and adopt safer behaviors, ensuring a healthier and more informed life for them.
The Red Ribbon Project allocates a portion of its budget each year for financial support for families and individuals who are burdened with bills associated with managing HIV/AIDS. Red Ribbon Project can also assist by referring people to other agencies for assistance. Confidentiality always applies in these situations.
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