"World Heath Care Congress Affordable Health Innovations Exhibit and Awards" 7th Annual World Health Care Congress 2010

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Since 2003, Men Engaged in Nonviolence, Inc. (MEN®) has developed an innovative approach to violence prevention in Taos, New Mexico. By mobilizing men to help at-risk boys, MEN® achieves the dual objective of preventing youth violence and building the male community. By proposing nonviolence, MEN® promotes the many "protective factors" which support youth in becoming respectful, productive and nonviolent members of society. By recruiting volunteers and leaders, and by extensive collaborations, MEN® contributes to the overall social structure which alone can sustain systemic improvement in healthcare, economic conditions and cultural norms. Programs include In-school Mentorship, Support Groups for high-risk teens and young men, the Fatherhood Program, and a highly-successful Media Campaign. Evaluations of In-school Mentorship show a 70% improvement among mentees for academic performance, anger management, decision-making skills, communication skills and self-esteem. The programs are affordable because they are volunteer-based, holding mentorship costs to a rock bottom $10/hr. The programs are scalable because they are simple, relying above all on the universal dynamic of boys looking to men for guidance. Typical partners are state and municipal governments, school districts, juvenile justice, youth organizations, and businesses. After five years of road-testing, MEN® is planning to replicate programs in other communities (e.g., "ChicagoMEN" or "BaltimoreMEN"). MEN® is developing a social business plan to finance expansion by producing a product line of violence prevention DVD’s and printed materials. The primary customers will be the over 13,500 school districts in the U.S.

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