A recent grant from United Healthcare is starting to have an impact on teen behavioral health issues in inner-city Wilmington.
The nonprofit One Village Alliance got a share of $160,000 from the insurer. Executive director Chandra Pitts said it helped them greatly expand their reach in the city.
The programs connect kids with mentors and community leaders to talk about their goals and their challenges, which Pitts says are numerous:
"They were real. Drug use was on every single one of those boys' lists. Fear of law enforcement and police and their physical safety was on every single one of their lists," said Pitts. "And then they talked about things like friends, peers, the communities they lived in."
And with the help of mentors, Pitts hopes these kids have have someone who can assist them as they seek to escape cycles of violence and mental health consequences.
"We're seeing the boys open up to us and build this relationship that makes our engagements so meaningful," said Pitts.
The money also helped expand a girls' program. With the data they gather, United Healthcare says there could be more funding in the future.
