Last week, the Baltimore City Health Department launched the city’s new Youth Health and Wellness Strategy, a comprehensive citywide 5-year plan for achieving Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies, Healthy Communities and Healthy Systems, Baltimore City will continue to tackle systemic issues of poverty, trauma, and structural racism that Baltimore City’s 150,000 youth face.

On Thursday evening, BCHD hosted a community conversation at Dunbar High School with Baltimore City Public Schools and partners across the city where we provided an overview of what this strategy means communities and how we can work together to improve the lives of Baltimore's youth.

The event featured BCHD Commissioner, Dr. Wen, and Baltimore City Public Schools CEO, Dr. Sonja Brookins-Santelises along with a panel of community and youth leaders as well as live performances from the Dunbar High School Jazz Ensemble and a spoken word poem by a student from ConneXiones.

While there, Dr. Wen said that the Youth Health and Wellness Strategy is a critical part of BCHD’s overall vision of health in the city, Healthy Baltimore 2020, which aims to cut health disparities in half over the next 10 years.

Dr. Wen also discussed the three major outcomes of the Youth Health and Wellness Strategy:

1. Reducing youth victims of violence
2. Reducing teen births
3. Reducing missed school days

After hearing from Dr. Santelises , Assistant Commissioners Francine Childs and Rebecca Dineen recognized passionate leaders to celebrate their work which helps reduce health disparities across the city. These awardees include:

• State Senator Bill Ferguson for serving as a passionate advocate for Baltimore and supporting innovative workforce development programs for youth across the city
• Sister Helen Amos, Executive Chair of the Board of Trustees of Mercy Health Services, Inc., for her tireless championship of mothers and children here in Baltimore and her dedication to serving the most vulnerable citizens, including those who are homeless or without access to care
• Pamela Bohrer Brown, Director of Maternal and Child Health and Multicultural Programs for Baltimore Medical, for her commitment to Baltimore’s school-based health centers and supporting their ability to improve the health and wellness of young people
• Chris Battaglia, Principal of Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove, for his leadership in implementing reproductive health education and his continued support of pregnant and parenting teens
• Hillary Clayton, teacher at Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove, for her leadership in piloting reproductive health education and adapting the program to students’ needs
• Mary Donnelly, Principal at John Ruhrah Elementary/Middle School for her leadership in supporting reproductive health education for middle school students, particularly advocating for accommodations for Spanish-speaking students.
• Bob Embry, President of The Abell Foundation, for his legacy of supporting essential reproductive health programs and supporting cutting-edge interventions for our vulnerable youth, including Vision for Baltimore
• Samirah Franklin and Tyesha Harrell, on behalf of the Baltimore City Intergenerational Initiatives for Trauma and Youth Coalition (B-CIITY) Coalition For spearheading the RECAST grant through the development of a trauma informed program that will support young people in West Baltimore communities.
• Matthew Hornbeck, Principal, Hampstead Hill Academy For leadership and coordination to help pilot Baltimore’s Vision for Baltimore program to ensure all children in our city have access to the vision care they deserve.
• Teresa Jones on behalf of Penn North Library for her exceptional support of young people following the unrest of 2015
• Kelsey Johnson on behalf of the Youth Leadership & Advocacy Network (YLAN)  for YLAN and its member organizations for their partnership and leadership in the development of the Youth Health and Wellness Strategy
• Evelia Miller and Rebecca Yenawine on behalf of New Lens Youth Media for their commitment to community-led efforts. Recently, New Lens made an important leadership decision, transitioning to a new youth-directorship. Through this transition, previous adult leaders will now serve as advisors, while the operations of the organization will be led by young people.
• Patrick McCarthy, President Annie E. Casey Foundation for constantly pushing the envelope in how to support and care for our youth in the city, as well as supporting the development of the Youth Health and Wellness Strategy to ensure well-being
• Marcus Nole and Jesus Eusebio-Perez from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health For serving as peer leaders for Y2Connect, helping map resources to improve access for young people
• Jan Rivitz, President and CEO at The Straus Foundation for her incredible leadership in ensuring safety net and leadership development services for our youth across the city
• LaShella Stanfield, Principal, Cross Country Elementary School for her leadership on reproductive health education for middle school students and ongoing commitment to parent engagement across Cross Country