For the past decade, Sarah's Inn has been working with local high school students to help change the discussion around relationship violence. The original programming, which was only for teenage boys, was called Step Back and was in partnership with Oak Park - River Forest High School. Step Back worked to change the conversation and work to help educate young men. This group evolved into the Leadership Development Initiative which then was later renamed to become Youth Committee. This co-ed group came together to start learning about gender related issues with meetings including both an educational component and a project.

Sarah's Inn's Youth Committee meets twice a month and is an opportunity for local high school students to become advocates for domestic violence. Although most of the current students are from OPRF, Fenwick, and Trinity, students from all neighboring high schools are welcome to get involved. Each month the students discuss a specific question related to dating violence, gender violence, or policy. Throughout the year, students plan events and orgnize Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month in February.

‍

To learn more about getting involved with the Youth Committee, please visit: https://sarahsinn.org/youth-committee/

‍