United Youth for United Way Gives $1,000 Grant to RWA A $1,000 grant award from the United Youth for United Way was the seed money for “Teen SOADA” (Speaking Out Against Domestic Abuse), a youth led, youth initiative between Iron Range Youth in Action and Range Women’s Advocates.
The goal with the “TEEN SOADA” project is to create a regional youth campaign to increase community awareness on the dynamics of domestic violence and teen dating abuse. As area youth create meaningful activities, they will also be educating themselves and their peers on how domestic violence affects families and communities. One of the project activities included a billboard that will be posted for 60 days in northern St. Louis County. The billboard is posted 1.5 miles north of Virginia on Hwy. 53 (on the left side of divided highway heading north).
The TEEN SOADA project is an attempt to find a solution to reducing violence in our area and to tap into student leaders to use their status as peers to speak out against rape, battering, sexual harassment, gay-bashing and all forms of sexist abuse and violence. Over the last two years, Range Women’s Advocates has seen a 34 percent increase in the number of victims of domestic violence; the majority of those victims are women.
Iron Range Youth in Action is a youth organization in Northern Minnesota. With over 400 youth participants in 13 schools and 37 communities, IRYA is a driving force with a mission to bring positive changes to the communities of Northern Minnesota. IRYA is completely youth run. Youth make decisions as to the direction the organization will take. From basic service learning projects to million dollar economic development projects, IRYA youth have their hands in making positive changes to many people's lives.
IRYA promotes youth leadership to its highest level and asks youth to make a difference in the lives of others. Iron Range Youth in Action was started in 1996 by St. Louis County Commissioner Liz Prebich and the PARTNERS board. Liz had a vision of hundreds of youth across Northeastern St. Louis County out in their communities using their voices in public policy and civic volunteering on a very large scale. Backed by St. Louis County Commissioners Mike Forsman (left) and Steve Raukar (right), Liz worked with the PARTNERS board members to create a youth organization that would reach out to thousands of youth.
