Healthy Initiatives Promoting Healthy Youth

Growing up along San Francisco’s Sixth Street, an area notorious for poverty and blight, it was common for Philip Maverick Ruiz, 19, and Alexa Drapiza, 20, to see adults drinking in the middle of the day or shooting up on the sidewalks.

“As a kid, I remember feeling unsafe to go out by myself, even if it was just to run to the corner store,” says Maverick.

“When you’re surrounded by a lot of negativity, and at the same time you’re dealing with personal issues at home, it’s hard to imagine any other kind of existence,” says Alexa 

Maverick and Alexa, already seasoned activists through their ongoing involvement with SOMCAN’s Youth Organizing for Home and Neighborhood Action (YOHANA), wanted to challenge the pervasive culture that boxed-in low-income and working class people, immigrants, and people of color, and limited the future options of young people from these communities. So when the opportunity presented itself to innovate a new program that would equip teens with the knowledge and resilience needed to make a lifetime of healthy choices, they were ready for the challenge.

Funded by the Department of Public Health through a partnership with Asian Youth Prevention Services, Healthy Initiatives Promoting Healthy Youth (HIPHY) employs community organizing strategies to limit youth access to alcohol by challenging community policies and practices. It is closely modeled after Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol, a nationally-recognized, evidence-based program that addresses legal, institutional, social, and health issues in order to reduce youth alcohol use. Small group sessions focusing on “environmental prevention” are held weekly at Galileo High School, Mission High School, Bessie Carmichael Middle School, and at SOMCAN. During these sessions, participants learn about everything from systemic racism and environmental justice to critical media literacy and how to run a successful campaign. Currently, the youth are working on a neighborhood research project that documents the number of alcohol ads on billboards in the SoMa.

HIPHY is a member of the San Francisco Alcohol Prevention Coalition convened by the Youth Leadership Institute, and recently took part in a meet-up event, where they linked up with youth leaders and their adult allies from across the city. 

“When you throw dry information at them, kids won’t listen,” says Alexa. “But if you relate what you’re saying to what they experience on a daily basis and connect it to larger social systems, then they become more receptive and engaged.” She adds: “They want to make a difference in their communities.”