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.

info@pwrhousecdc.org· Columbia, Missouri