Join UMD Strive!

Interested in helping provide support and a community to youth living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD)? Join UMD STRIVE and become a mentor! STRIVE stands for Sickle cell Teens, Raising awareness, Initiating change, Voicing opinions, and Empowering themselves. STRIVE’s mentors work towards creating actionable programs, providing social support services, and embodying the role of an advocate to youth aged 11-18 years old living with sickle cell disease. UMD STRIVE partners with Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC to effectively meet youth needs. Through communicating with the youth’s doctors, social workers, and nurse practitioners, we orient program direction and adjust program curriculum to meet their needs. SCD affects about 100,000 Americans, and 1 in 365 African Americans, shortens life expectancy significantly, and causes many health complications and pain crises. Teens living with SCD are paired with our mentors for individualized support and guidance through weekly community Zoom calls and tutoring sessions. Most youth living with sickle cell disease participate for the duration of their middle and high school years, and as a result, build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with their mentors. If interested or if you have any questions email dc@nextstep.org! We’d love to have you join our team this Fall.