How We Work

OneStep is a youth-informed social media-based campaign designed to increase the engagement of youth in health-related activities and facilitate their access to positive resources within the community and their schools. The primary objective of this campaign is to combat many of the negative messages that youths receive from various sources of media by promoting healthy alternatives through Instagram and other social media platforms to come.

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We engage students directly through weekly lunch meet-ups, where we set up a booth during students’ lunch periods and facilitate various games, raffles, trivia questions, and other activities. OneStep also hosts monthly contests that encourage students to engage with positive adult role models, connect with other students, and participate in healthy activities. The campaign operates under the premise that in reducing idle time by providing youths with healthy alternatives and connecting students with extracurricular activities, less time will be available to be spent engaging in other unhealthy behaviors, such as using substances.

There is a participatory action component, which involves the recruitment of dedicated and motivated students to become youth "Influencers” in the campaign. OneStep Influencers are considered leaders in the program and within the school and are a critical component to our program's mission. Influencers meet during weekly afterschool meetings to talk about how they see issues of mental health and substance abuse within their communities, the resources available, and what is important to them and other students to increase engagement. These meetings also offer important opportunities to help Influencers increase their knowledge about prevention and health promotion, build their accountability to the program's values of displaying good character and positive role modeling, and help them navigate general challenges of high school so they can help their peers do the same.

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OneStep has continued to remain active throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by hosting virtual school-wide events, such as movie night via Discord, game day via Zoom, and various Instagram challenges and giveaways. Our Influencers continue to connect via Zoom weekly to discuss the unique challenges and needs that youths in New Haven face during the pandemic and how we can work to promote healthy living, maintain positive social connections, and increase involvement through this unprecedented time.