PRC Newsletter - June 2020

Greetings and welcome to the June 2020 issue of the HYD-PRC e-newsletter.

This newsletter arrives as we continue to adapt in the ways we work, learn, and function as a community during the time of COVID-19. It is also a time where we -- in Minnesota and in the United States – are deeply saddened, outraged, and driven to be catalysts for systemic change following the traumatic murder of Mr. George Floyd. This is a difficult time; it is also a time where our connectedness, creativity, and collaboration with each other can be a powerful force for good.

In this newsletter, we explore several adolescent health topics, highlighting research and leadership of our HYD - PRC faculty and staff. Please read on to learn more about the happenings within our center.

If you have comments or questions about any of the features of this newsletter, we’d love to hear from you! 

The University of Minnesota Prevention Research Center (UMN PRC) is committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society. As we bear witness to the inequitable effects of a global pandemic and trauma caused by systemic racism, we re-commit to working collaboratively with others to create real and lasting change, and equitable systems for young people and families. We accept responsibility to listen and take meaningful action. We join with colleagues and community members in the need to do more and do better.

UMN PRC strives to promote health and healthy development among all young people, to reduce health disparities, and to provide adolescents with opportunities and skills to live healthy and meaningful lives, a mission that has guided our work since we became a Center in 1996. We stand with, and are committed to listening, supporting, and advocating for young people and families whose lives are disproportionately impacted by systemic racism. We work to promote social justice and racial justice, and to change systems that perpetuate racism and inequality in our communities.  We continue to lean on our core values of diversity, equity, and inclusion to create spaces within which all people are treated with civility, respect, and dignity, and all young people have opportunities and supports to pursue their dreams and ambitions.