PHMC recruited young people (ages 14-18) from all across Pennsylvania as the PA Youth First committee who received education on the issues and solutions around the opioid epidemic. The committee worked on bringing positive change in the community and its peers through a prevention multi-media campaign. The youth were involved in all aspects of campaign development and dissemination including the name of the project, logo, brand colors, tagline, tone of the communication, ads for youth and concepts for the youth videos. The boys and girls believe that empowering them with knowledge and education helped them bring out relevant issues surrounding this epidemic, think about positive change and immediate actions to curtail this epidemic. Similarly, they want to educate their peers and friends so that they make the right choice and adopt healthy coping skills when confronting issues in their life. The campaign used a powerful, straightforward, “tell-it-like-it-is” tone and style in the ads and videos with a strong call to action.
We’d like to thank them for their passion, their curiosity and the energy to develop this campaign and become ambassadors for prevention, intervention and treatment.
Morgan Alston
Jayla Baxter
Ahzarria Coleman
“No matter how big or small you are or how shy or outgoing you are, you can always make an impact on an individual or a group. This program has helped me become not just a better person but a better leader. I’ll definitely use these skills in college and to help society.” - Morgan Alston
Sydney Grimes
Derrick Lee
Naim Lee
“I didn’t know how dangerous and addictive [opioids] can be.” -Zar Coleman
Evelyn Moses
Rasheeda Muhammad
Jada Rasulallah
“Opioids can tear families apart and bring them together.” - Rayna Winston
Jasmine Rasulallah
Nicholas Robbins
Elijah Wesley
“This project has changed me because… I enjoyed how I got to share my experience with
opioid. I didn’t know how addicting [opioid] can be and hard it can be to stop [using].” - Naim Lee
Rayna Winston
Azaria Roberts
Gianna Zupan