DREAM Academy for Girls
The DREAM Academy for Girls (Direction, Resilience, Excellence, Ambitionand Motivation) Academy was a model health promotion program targeting girls ages 9-16 residing in Orange County (Orlando), Florida to reduce incidence and prevalence of delinquent/antisocial behaviors and decrease their risks for HIV/AIDS infection. Funded through a partnership with US Department of Healt and Human Services - Office on Women's Health, the DREAM Academy served to contribute pivotal research in adolescent health, gender-specific models and health education and risk reduction approaches among girls of ethnic and racial minority populations.
Through a sequence of planned and guided workshops (called "Leadershops"), interactive activities, community service and group and individual sessions, "Dreamers" explored, discovered and exceled in reducing personal risk for HIVand gained invaluable life lessons.
The DREAM Academy showcased ISL's unique brand of translating evidence-based approaches to health promotion and disease prevention in cultural-, age- and gender-sensitive ways. Further, ISL's successful outcomes among hardest-to-reach populations indicates its expertise and commitment to improve health status for women and girls across the lifespan and from varied social and economic backgrounds.
Included in the curriculum were components to not only address knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding comprehensive wellness, but also addressed health risks resulting from social and economic environments in which they and their families lived.
