Your health and safety are our top priority. In compliance with the latest CDC and MDH recommendations, amid rising Delta variant transmission and COVID-19 cases in the Twin Cities, YWCA Minneapolis will require face coverings to be worn by everyone – both vaccinated and unvaccinated – when inside our facilities, effective September 13. Learn More
Pool Closures: YWCA Downtown pool will be closed Sept. 21 – 28 for annual maintenance. YWCA Uptown pool will close for an Otters swim meet at 12:45 pm on Saturday, September 25, and remain closed the rest of the day.
About Contact Plus
For more than 30 years, YWCA’s Contact Plus Program has worked with middle school and high school youth in the Minneapolis Public Schools to provide sexual health education. Contact Plus engages with youth between the ages of 11 – 18 around holistic sexual health education and self-empowerment, so they are informed and active agents of their health. Our focus is to help youth continue to cultivate positive relationships and be leaders in their communities.
Program Details
As part of this program, students:
- Meet in gender-specific, non-binary or coed groups
- Participate in discussions and activities to help learn about themselves and their relationships with others
- Learn how to assertively communicate
- Learn how to make well-informed and responsible decisions about their sexual health
YWCA integrates proven curriculum into the program, including Girls Inc.® Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy in girls groups and has developed an original toolkit focused on inclusive, gender-affirming and pleasure-positive sexuality education.
How to Join
To learn more about the Contact Plus program or find out if the program is available at your school, contact Katie Rehani at krehani@ywcampls.org or 612-215-4388.
Program Goals
- Students learn to identify and practice components of healthy relationships in all aspects of life.
- Students are informed of current sexual health information such as responsible sex practices, STI & pregnancy prevention and how to access resources.
- Students develop tools to continue to cultivate a healthy sense of how they relate to themselves and others.
Contact Plus Participants
In 2017-2018, over 200 youth participated in Contact Plus. 99% reported avoiding becoming pregnant or fathering a child for a least nine months after beginning participation in the program.
Sexuality Education Toolkit
YWCA Minneapolis developed a Sexuality Education Toolkit for youth workers to provide support for educators who want to create an inclusive sexuality education experience for young people.
Contact Plus Program Participant
“I don’t want to be with a guy who is trying to push me around. I get to decide when I am ready for all that stuff. I need to focus on school right now, not worry all the time if I might get pregnant!”