Middleboro Youth Advocates is a network of youth advocates in the Middleboro area who work together to promote a safe community for our youth and to nurture healthy community attitudes within which youth feel safe and valued.

Our Vision:

A healthy community committed to maximizing resources to empower our youth to reach their full potential.

Our Mission:

To engage active cooperation in a community that cares about promoting positive values and personal strengths in our youth, through innovative & proven strategies including those used to reduce youth substance abuse and other self-destructive behaviors.

Our Goals:

• To create a network of youth advocates in Middleboro to ensure access to needed community resources for youth.

• To develop a proposal for acquiring a community-learning center in Middleboro to meet a broad range of youth needs.
• To promote attributes of positive character and develop personal strengths in our youth.

To provide a safe community and to nurture a healthy community attitude within which youth feel safe and valued.

We have also hosted the following events:

• NMS Youth Summit
• March 2006 Middleboro Town Hall Forum to address underage drinking
• March 2007 Middleboro Town Hall Forum to address EEE and West Nile virus
• March 2007 Middleboro Town Hall Forum to address underage drinking

Middleboro Youth Advocates values and treats all persons with respect. We welcome anyone in the Middleboro community or those who work with youth in the Middleboro community to join the coalition regardless of, race, ethnicity, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, political belief, religion, or mental or physical disability.

Our History

Originally called “The Joshua Group,” Middleboro Youth Advocates was formed in 2001, after a series of community breakfast meetings, led by local pastor Brian Weeks and Town Manager John Healey, uncovered the need for greater communication and partnership amongst youth serving agencies in the area. The name was later changed to Middleboro Youth Advocates in the winter of 2002.

Community leaders conceived of programs such as the innovative Keyword Initiative to organize community efforts to work together in order to deal with the increasing problems that plague Middleboro youth. Middleboro Youth Advocates partnered with the Southeast Center for Healthy Communities (formerly the DPH Prevention Center) to develop a visionary Strategic Plan. Middleboro Youth Advocates has since developed a number of programs to reduce substance abuse and prevent substance abuse. The coalition was recognized by the Mass Forum for Healthy Communities when it was selected for a comprehensive 9-month training series in 2004/2005. Middleboro Youth Advocates was also awarded the Drug Free Communities Grant in 2007 to enable the coalition to expand its substance abuse prevention strategies.