street youth

 

The Urban Breakaway Program

Who : "Street youth”, who, by definition, are confronted with the many risks that are related to their lifestyle, including psychological stress, physical violence, blood-borne and sexually-transmitted infections (Hepatitis C, AIDS, etc.) and physical deterioration resulting from the abuse of alcohol or other drugs.

How : The "Urban Breakaway Program" offers recreation, health education and group therapy workshops in a safe, friendly, drug-free setting.

These activities are facilitated by trained specialists, including a licensed nutritionist and certified group therapy counselors.

The various activities are especially designed to increase participants’ self-esteem, and teach stress management skills and violence-avoidance, while workshops address other critical issues for street youths, such as:

• How AIDS, Hepatitis C and other blood-borne infections are transmitted,

• The consequences of the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs,

• The importance of good nutrition and how it can be achieved in spite of limited resources.

Why : The primary objectives of the Dianova Breakaway program are to help the participants raise their levels of autonomy, to help them face their daily problems successfully, to enable them, eventually, to change their lifestyles and get off the streets – and, above all, to give them the confidence that all these objectives are truly attainable.