Girl's Healthy Choices

EORO's Girl's Healthy Choices Program is an 8 or 10 week program that addresses a continum of topics around healthy choices, safe sex, personal care and relationships. The program is facilitated by Each One Reach One Program Staff, Laurel Freeman. Laurel came to EORO after working for the SAGE Project in San Francisco, an internationally recognized human rights organization that fights the commercial sexual exploitation and prostitution of youth. 


As a result of her work fighting exploitation, she conducted her own original research for a senior thesis entitled Girl Prostitutes in the San Francisco Juvenile Justice System, which was later used by local and international agencies to address issues of exploited youth in the criminal justice system. She graduated from Mills College with honors and obtained a BA degree in Anthropology and Sociology.

Since leaving SAGE after 12 years of involvement with the organization as a counselor, program director, and administrator of a safe house for girls,Laurel has remained dedicated to working with system involved youth, with a specific focus on preventing exploitation, domestic violence, and teen pregnancy. She uses her own experiences as a troubled teenager to provide crisis counseling and Life Skills workshops for teens that address issues such as healthy relationships, STDs and birth control, goal setting, and sexual assault, exploitation, and pregnancy prevention. Laurel has a real world; real talk style of teaching that engages teens in the process of thinking for themselves and making healthier choices as they move toward adulthood.

Healthy Choices ran in San Mateo County in April and May of this year. Below are some comments from the the post-class evaluations to show the young women’s experience in the sessions:

"It’s awesome and the only thing to really reach what the girls are going through."

"Group was great! Wish we had more time :)"

"The packet includes a lot of good information."

" I Love your group Laurel!"

"[The thing I liked best was ] Learning about my own weaknesses and problems and some steps to take to keep me from going back to that life.

List two things you learned from this group: Some of my downfalls and weaknesses, I can get through this."

"[The thing I liked best was that] We talked about real issues.

Please list two things you learned from this group: How to stop bad relationships and how to manage my money."

"The talking and finding out new things. I learned a lot about prostitution and ways to cope with anger."

"I liked asking questions about sex. Things I didn't know. [I learned] How to apologize and work out problems. To manage my money."