CHASE (Community Health Advancement and Student Engagement) is an award-winning, volunteer-led charity that works to reduce the burden of preventable disease through health education and community engagement. CHASE’s youth-led mentoring program targets underprivileged populations, reaching 200 VCAL students annually across Melbourne’s North and West. Currently, we work with five schools: Copperfield College, Essendon Keilor College, St Albans Secondary College, Lakeview Senior College, and Brunswick Secondary College.

For over 7 years, we have helped improve health literacy for over 1600 disadvantaged secondary school students through a tailored education program and mentoring, thanks to the generous donations of our benefactors. With your support, we can continue empowering disadvantaged students to become future community leaders.

Our year-long program is conducted in two phases. In the first phase, CHASE volunteers run workshops where VCAL students are exposed to personal health and public health concepts. In the second phase, VCAL students undertake projects designed to help solve self-identified health problems present in their local communities.

Our programs are evidence-based and built on best practices learned from medical professionals.  Our effective rate is [stats]. We know that through empowering students we are empowering the community around them, thus reducing their chances of enduring poor health conditions, thereby reducing the high rates of preventable and long-term chronic disease within the northern and western suburbs.

Your donation will allow chase CHASE to empower more students to overcome health-related issues they will encounter. It will also allow CHASE to develop, promote and foster new and existing partnerships with local community organisations and health professionals. CHASE will be able to ensure that our volunteers, schools and students have all the resources they need available to them. As well as improving health literacy, we hope the CHASE Program improves access to higher education and professional pathways for students.