Involving the Faith Community in Teen Pregnancy Prevention

Sustaining a relationship with faithcommunity partnersSeveral activities can help turna new partnership with the faithcommunity into a long-termrelationship.Make sure communicationis regular and personalA successful partnership needsto be nourished by an ongoingconversation that includes allthose involved. This dialogueallows the entire group to findcommon ground as well as tounderstand what ground cannotbe shared. In addition, programsshould solicit feedback onCASE IN POINTOur Lady of GuadeloupeCatholic Churchsubstantive issues from faithcommunity partners. They areknowledgeable about youth andworking in the community, andtheir feedback, observations,and suggestions can strengthena teen pregnancy preventioninitiative.As programs establish and continuea dialogue, they need toremember that similar conversationsalso may be going onwithin the faith communityitself. In many communities,teen pregnancy can be a controversialissue. The members mayhave agreed that teen pregnancy43THE FAITH COMMUNITYMembers of Our Lady ofGuadeloupe Catholic Churchin Denver, Colorado, were concernedthat uninsured people inthe predominantly Latino neighborhoodcould not get decent,basic health care. They decidedto establish a free health clinic.Exams, immunizations, anddiabetes screening are amongthe services offered by ClínicaTpeyac. As the clinic’s clientelegrew, staff began to focus onthe needs of the young peoplein the neighborhood and parish.In response, the clinic startedNuestros Milagros (OurMiracles) to provide regularactivities for youth.In September 1997, the clinicconducted a survey of more than100 parish and neighborhoodyouth. In the survey, the youthidentified two problems that theyfelt the clinic and the churchneeded to address—drug abuseand teen pregnancy. Clinic,church, and youth leaders fromthe Nuestros Milagros youthgroup agreed to focus on theissue of teen pregnancy. By theend of the year, they werepreparing a training for peer educatorsand writing curricula forprograms. By spring of 1998, thepeer educators were ready fortheir programs.