The Sweet Potato Program

The Sweet Potato program at the West Fresno Family Resource Center is a prevention program that aims to prevent and/or reduce school drop-out, gang involvement, and substance use initiation for African American youth ages 12-15 by decreasing internalized oppression, hopelessness, and low collective efficacy, while increasing engagement in collective economic activity, college intentions, mentoring, and leadership development. It is designed to address the Phase I African American strategic recommendations to focus PEI on community-based efforts specifically addressing African American culture and to address the co-occurrence of mental health conditions and socioeconomic challenges.