Community Collaboration & Leadership

At Charting Careers, we know that lasting change requires strong communities. Through Community Impact Teams and Prevention Efforts, we bring together residents, schools, faith groups, and organizations to strengthen neighborhoods, reduce risks, and elevate youth and family voices. These efforts often spark resident-led collaboratives—such as the Greater Clay Street Collaborative—that grow organically out of community momentum.

🔗 Community Impact Teams (CITs)

Our Community Impact Teams convene residents, schools, nonprofits, and partners to identify needs, build coalitions, and strengthen neighborhoods through coordinated action and events.

Led by Community Impact Specialists—trusted leaders who live in the neighborhoods we serve—CITs are active in Annapolis Gardens, the Greater Clay Street Community, Harbour House/Eastport Terraces, and Woodside Gardens.

Specialists:

  • Build trusting relationships with students and families

  • Conduct community needs assessments

  • Help families access resources and set/achieve personal goals

  • Plan and implement events based on community priorities, such as mental health workshops, financial literacy classes, and neighborhood-building activities

  • Build community coalitions and collaboratives

🛡️ Prevention

Our Prevention & Wellness work reduces risks and strengthens protective factors through youth prevention clubs, family workshops, and community-wide campaigns. While prevention is woven throughout our programs, it finds its strongest home at the community level.

Charting Careers Community Youth Coalition (CYC)

Through a five-year Drug-Free Communities (DFC) grant, the CYC mobilizes partners to:

  • Increase collaboration across Annapolis

  • Advocate for policy changes

  • Implement prevention strategies that reduce youth access to alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs

Charting Careers Take Back Your 10 (TB10)

Charting Careers also leads a local chapter of Maryland’s TB10 initiative—a youth-led, adult-guided program that builds youth voice and leadership. Youth ages 13–19 engage in tobacco prevention activities, research, and public speaking, while examining how mental health, peer pressure, and marketing practices shape decisions.

📩 To get involved in Prevention & Wellness, contact Virgil Boysaw, Jr. (CYC) at virgil@chartingcareers.org or Candis Henson (TB10) at candis@chartingcareers.org.

Measures of Success

  • Strong and sustainable partnerships between residents, schools, and organizations

  • Increased participation in prevention clubs, workshops, and community-building activities

  • Resident leaders equipped to organize collaboratives and advocate for change

  • Youth and caregiver voices represented in neighborhood and county-level decisions

Why It Matters

Healthy, connected communities create the conditions for youth and families to thrive. By fostering collaboration and leading prevention efforts, Charting Careers strengthens the fabric of Annapolis—building safer, healthier, and more connected neighborhoods for all.