The Charity League Begins its New Program,
November 8, 2012
As the “Not Me, Not Now” program begins, we wanted to sit down with Dawn Mills, Chairperson for the League’s Teen Pregnancy program, to learn more about this new groundbreaking program. Dawn (Class of ‘07) has been married to Wes Mills for eight years and is a busy lady as the mother of 3-year old Taylor and as a realtor at Berry-Elliott.
Q: Dawn, you've been instrumental in starting a new placement and program for the Charity League - the "Not Me, "Not Now" program. Tell us about it.
The foundation of the program is promoting abstinence as a positive, life-enhancing decision. The curriculum covers the reasons for postponing sex, setting goals, making healthy choices and effective communication.
Q: What was the inspiration for this program?
A local physician, who had been seeing a growing problem with teen pregnancy in the community, approached the League inquiring whether we could someone get involved to help curb this trend. I spent a summer researching on the Internet to see what programs existed in decreasing teen pregnancy. I really liked the “Not Me, Not Now” program because, statistically, it is “tried and true.” It’s a developed program that appears to have really worked for other communities, like ours. I then presented the program to the Teen Pregnancy Committee which approved the program. The first year was dedicated to the development of the program and exploring advertising options. This year focuses on the actual implementation of the program.
Q: Why did you think that this program would be beneficial for our area?
This program has a track record for success and both the County and the City – particularly the City – are well above Virginia’s average of teen pregnancies per 1,000 girls.
Q: How is the program scheduled and who is invited?
The program began October 4th and is presented to the Martinsville Middle School as part of the Health and P.E. courses. Boys and girls have separate presentations and the program consists of three 50-minute sessions which will continue into November and December, 2005. After the sessions are completed, we will focus on continued advertising year round to complement the positive impact made on the teenagers during the classes.
Q: Has Charity League received support from other organizations or professionals in the community on this project?
Active Dr. Megan Tirone has been a guest speaker for the program and both the Rotary and Lions Club have expressed an interest in partnering with us to continue our efforts. We’re stepping out into territory that is new to us. We’ve never received money before from other community organizations and we have never established fundraising for a specific placement. However, this is a community program and it would be wonderful to have the support of others in the community – at the individual, business, and organizational level.
Q: What has been the reaction from those who have participated in the program?
We have received very positive responses from both parents and kids. We have met with parents during the Parent’s Night at the schools and set up a booth to discuss the program with interested parents. Several mothers approached us and congratulated us on getting involved in this issue. In fact, several even inquired about opportunities for them to participate in the program and “tell their story” so that young teenagers might learn from them and not repeat their mistakes!
Q: Is there anything that has surprised you to learn that kids attending this program did not already know?
Young teenagers, including those that are having sex, do not seem to understand how babies are made. And many of them think that more of their peers are having sex than actually are! Teenagers, succumbing to peer pressure, tell their friends that they are having sex (even though they are not) which further promotes the misinformation among them that sex is something that everyone is actively doing.
Q: What are your future hopes for the "Not Me, Not Now" program?
We hope to increase our funding through community efforts and expand the program to the Henry County middle schools as well. The County does not have as much of a need as the City, based solely on the statistics, but we can reach nearly three times the amount of kids if we expand our efforts to the County. Our goal is that over the next year, we will develop enough notoriety for the program that we can create advertisers who will want to renew their commitment each year which will allow that expansion to occur.