On December 25, 1988 (Christmas Eve), AFG conducted its first street outreach shift on the streets of Detroit. A single van was dispatched to those areas of the city where girls and young women gathered and engaged in high-risk activities, such as substance abuse and prostitution.

Staff and volunteers reached out to them, offering information, food, a harm-reduction kit, a ride to AFG or other safe place, or simply, a kind word. Over the years, and with the help of volunteers, outreach was expanded on the streets, to include multiple vans and shifts. And onsite at AFG, strong programs were developed and implemented that today educate participants about positive choices and help them change their lives.

Safe Choices Project

• Intervenes to reduce high-risk activity
• Educates on safe alternatives to life-threatening behaviors
• Builds positive leadership skills in high-risk young women
• Enhances employability
• Ensures access to resources and opportunities
• Accesses hard-to-reach populations
• Affirms the value of the individual
• Promotes positive peer relationships
• Introduces positive alternatives
• Encourages social responsibility

New Choices Project

Launched in January 2003, this 18-week program supports women in exiting commercial sex work by teaching them the tools and creating access to the resources they need to achieve personal and economic independence. New Choices provides a curriculum to build life skills and leadership capacity. Women arrested for prostitution in some communities can be directed to New Choices participation instead of incarcerated.

Peer Educators

Peer Educators (PEs) are a unique resource for Alternatives For Girls. Young people, whose personal experiences mirror many of those that clients bring to AFG, connect with teens on the streets and in the schools. Teams of PEs facilitate workshops at dozens of metro Detroit sites on a number of relevant topics, including gun violence prevention; alcohol, tobacco and other drug education; self-esteem; HIV/STI awareness; competence building for serving Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning youth; and the impact of music on youth, among others.

Fast Facts

In the last fiscal year, AFG Outreach:

• Provided 1,597 outreach hours through 6,759 contacts
• Distributed 26,837 harm-reduction items
• Conducted 901 risk assessments

Partners

• Bank One Foundation
• Christ Church Grosse Pointe
• Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan
• Drug-Free Communities
• Gilmour Fund
• Hope Fund
• McGregor Fund
• Michigan AIDS Fund
• Michigan Women’s Foundation
• The Skillman Foundation
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

For more information, please contact:

Deena Policicchio
Director, AFG Outreach
Phone: (313) 361-4000
Fax: (313) 361-8938
E-mail: dpolicicchio@alternativesforgirls.org