Peer Health Exchange

Impactful Reach

Peer Health Exchange’s empowers young people with the knowledge, skills, and resources to make healthy decisions. We do this by training college students to teach a skills-based health curriculum in under-resourced high schools across the country.

Danielle Charles-Chauvet’s high school health education consisted of gym class with sporadic lectures from middle-aged men about the importance of abstinence and caring for the female body. For many reasons, namely differences in age and sex, their message failed to reach many of the students. Unintended pregnancy became the premier reason Danielle’s female peers abandoned their education. As a college undergraduate, through Peer Health Exchange (PHE), Danielle returned to her high school to teach the health curriculum she never had. The classroom became a safe space in which teenagers could share sensitive stories without fear of judgement and examine difficult decisions with someone who had been in their shoes just three years before. By empowering her students to make informed choices about their physical and mental well-being, Danielle knows their lives will be different from those of her high school peers. She is currently pursuing a career as a physician to continue tackling health inequity after being inspired by her work as a PHE volunteer.

18,247
In the 2018-2019 school year, Peer Health Exchange reached 18,247 young people with its skills-based health curriculum in the Bay Area, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York
87
87% of students indicated "PHE influenced my decision to seek help if I am experiencing poor mental health"
92
92% of students indicated "PHE influenced their decision to ask for consent at each step if they choose to engage in sexual activity"
$20
5 Health Workbooks
$50
3 weeks of PHE program for a student
$75
Trains 3 College Health Educators at the Annual Training Retreat

Financials

$12.9M
2022 Budget
65%Program Spend
13%Management Spend
22%Fundraising Spend
65%
13%
22%

Programs

Focus on Sexual Health

Peer Health Exchange aims to reduce unplanned pregancy for young people. In our sexual health program, students will learn health content, while focusing on how young people can make thoughtful decisions about sex, and how to effectively say “yes” and “no.”

Focus on Mental Health

Peer Health Exchange addresses the challenge of the youth mental health crisis by empowering young people and increasing the protective factors for young people. We meet students at their developmental stage through our innovative approach. Peer Health Exchange creates welcoming, open spaces for young people to learn and talk about mental health challenges and develop critical skills like communication, decision-making, advocacy for self and others, and accessing resources in support of mental health.

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