Healthy Choices · Life Skills & Mentorship
Empowering Youth to Make
Healthy Choices.
Powerhouse CDC educates and engages area youth — providing leadership skills, mentorship, trauma support, and the tools to give back to their communities and build successful futures.
🏫 School-Based Program
🕐 Sept – May
👥 Group & Individual Sessions
✨ Evidence-Based Curricula
5
Evidence-Based Curricula
2x
Weekly 60-Min Sessions
4
Partner Resources
3
Missouri Locations
About the Program
What is Healthy Choices?
Healthy Choices is an interactive, school-based program that provides life skills, positive messaging, trauma support care, and mentorship for area youth. The program runs during the school year — September through December and January through May.
Each week includes two 60-minute sessions: one providing objective subject matter in a peer setting, and one processing group to discuss personal and emotional topics. School counselors may also set up individual sessions for scholars at higher need or those in in-school or out-of-school suspension.
The program is facilitated by individuals with lived experience who bring genuine relatability to scholars. Individualized mentorship is available to the most vulnerable youth to develop an emotional bond with a mentor and receive ongoing support, guidance, and opportunities to meet personal and educational goals.
Session 1 (Group)
Objective subject matter in a peer setting
Session 2 (Processing)
Subjective discussion & personal growth
Individual Sessions
Higher-need scholars & ISS/OSS participants
1-on-1 Mentorship
Available to most vulnerable scholars
Youth in Action
Program in Action
Creative Expression & Life Skills
Building Confidence Through Creativity
Self-Expression & Emotional Growth
Hands-On Learning & Exploration
What We Focus On
Program Focus Areas
A multifaceted approach targeting youth from high-crime and low-socioeconomic communities — engaging, educating, equipping, and empowering the whole person.
Life Skills & Emotional Health
Teaching youth to process feelings and emotions, handle anger, make healthy choices, and build genuine friendships and social competency.
Substance Use Prevention
Increasing anti-drug-use attitudes and intentions, reducing early substance use and experimentation, and helping youth resist negative peer pressure.
Mentorship & Relationships
One-on-one mentorship from individuals with lived experience, building emotional bonds that provide lasting guidance, accountability, and opportunity.
Job Readiness
Career exploration, employment preparation, and workforce development through resume building, mock interviews, internships, and apprenticeship opportunities.
Leadership Development
Equipping youth with the confidence and skills to lead, give back to their communities, and develop positive values, identity, and prosocial behaviors.
Parenting & Co-Parenting
Future Leaders and Parenthood Can Wait curricula help youth make healthy choices about relationships, reduce bullying, and gain positive parenting skills.
Our Approach
Evidence-Based Curricula
01
Youth Connection Curriculum
A unique, multi-cultural, evidence-based preventive intervention. Youth in small groups learn to cope with difficult family situations, resist peer pressure, respect others, set goals, and refuse alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.
02
Tackling Life Skills (University of Missouri)
Evidence-based facilitation designed to enhance decision making, strengthen family involvement, and reduce intimate partner violence.
03
H.E.A.T. – Habilitation Empowerment Accountability Therapy
Combined with Youth Connections, H.E.A.T. targets accountability, empowerment, and behavioral change for at-risk youth.
04
Leadership Development (Family Support Division)
Builds leadership identity, community engagement, and the values youth need to be productive contributors to their families and neighborhoods.
05
Future Leaders & Parenthood Can Wait
Designed to help youth make healthy choices, support emotional development, reduce bullying, and build positive co-parenting skills.
Financial Literacy
Junior Achievement USA (JA)
JA provides the financial curriculum for both the parenthood and pre-parenthood components, covering key life-skills topics:
Choices & Self-Knowledge
Education & Career Options
Budgeting
Using Credit
Credit Score
Financial Risk
Decision Making
Career Options
Assessment & Evaluation
What We Aim to Achieve
Expected Outcomes
Develop positive values, social competencies & positive identities
Gain positive parenting & co-parenting skills
Identify, manage & express emotions & behaviors appropriately
Increase prosocial behaviors and community connection
Reduce risk for abuse, neglect & early substance use
Additional Help
Resources for Young People
Just Think Twice
Get the facts on how drugs impact your health, social life, family, and future.
Visit Site →Drug Free World
Empowering youth with factual, real-world information about the dangers of drugs.
Visit Site →Above the Influence
Helping youth stand up to negative pressures by providing positive resources and support.
Visit Site →MOSAFE Crisis Line
Experiencing a crisis? Text MOSAFE to 741741 for immediate help and support.
Text Now →Know a Young Person Who Needs Support?
Make a Referral Today
Healthy Choices is open to youth in Columbia, Marshall, and Versailles. If you know a student who would benefit from life skills support, mentorship, or prevention programming, reach out to get them connected.
[email protected] · Columbia, Missouri
