Youth showcase their talent to a capacity crowd at the Barnsdall Gallery Theater
LOS ANGELES — Teens and their parents from around the Los Angeles area filled the Barnsdall Gallery Theater in Hollywood to witness an evening of music, dance, spoken word, and film by and for youth. More than 300 youth and adults attended the 10th anniversary performance of this annual event. Performers included John Marshall High School’s Hip Hop Poetry Club, Real Youth Center Hip Hop Dance Crew, Reach LA student film productions, Real Youth Center’s Capoeira, Santana House Youth Action Theatre Company, Women at Risk, Future Shock LA, and performers June Swiss and Lyra Flip.

“Every teen has a right to be heard and Youth & Identity is a means to do just that,” says Dahlia Ferlito, Youth & Identity Coordinator. “There aren’t enough events that provide a positive outlet using such a variety of media to captivate youth audiences from all walks of life. We worked with many groups and community members to make this year an event that no one will forget.”

“Youth & Identity” is an annual community event and talent showcase that serves as a vehicle to raise awareness concerning various teen health issues. Asian and Pacific Islander youth are often unrecognized as being at risk for violence, pregnancy, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. The goal through “Youth & Identity” is to offer a stimulating environment in which to educate youth on how to make safe and healthy lifestyle choices.

APHCV established the REAL Youth Center in the late 1990s to address youth specific issues in the Asian and Pacific Islander community, such as linguistic and cultural barriers, generation gaps, acculturation stress in addition to diversion from and prevention related to sexual activity, gang activity, drug use and experimentation, suicide, and violence. The REAL Youth Center promotes positive and proactive participation of Asian and Pacific Islander youth in activities such as leadership development, pregnancy prevention, sexual responsibility, cultural activities, teen theater, health advocacy, socialization groups, art and writing workshops, theater and other internship and volunteer opportunities. Teens are trained to be peer educators and work alongside health care providers to staff the youth clinic held at APHCV on Wednesday evenings. Over 10,000 youth have benefited from APHCV’s direct health education outreach efforts at schools, community-based organizations, after-school programs, youth groups, malls, community events, coffee shops and other popular youth hangouts.

In addition, APHCV operates the School Based Health Center at John Marshall High School in Los Feliz. The center which is open 24 hours each week provides students access to comprehensive primary health care services including general health assessments, physical exams, disease screening and treatment, prevention, gap immunizations, HIV testing and counseling, health education and family planning. Mental health counseling is offered by a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and nutrition counseling by a nutrition educator. APHCV staff organize extracurricular hip hop dance, yoga and Capoeira (a Brazilian based martial art with African roots that incorporates music and dance elements) classes on campus.

Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. www.aphcv.org located in Hollywood and serving the greater Los Angeles area, is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides culturally competent health education and primary care services to more than 9,000 patients annually, 75% of whom are uninsured. APHCV provides its health education and health care services in nine Asian languages (Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Khmer, Japanese, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Indonesian), English and Spanish.