Good Ground Good Life , Inc.

Programs Areas

Good Ground Good Life provides workforce training and service learning activities to  DOES Youth through the Mayor's Summer Youth Program. During the summer months, our organization focuses on providing soft skills training along with hard skills for career planning through our Social Entrepreneurship and Educational Development (SEED) Program. Youth are exposed to four phases of workforce development including technology based learning; soft skills training in communications, interpersonal skills and leadership; summer internships and project development for business planning. Each youth is given a service learning project to complete to maximize their understanding of how a business operates. This equips them with various skills to function successfully as an employee, manager and/ or business owner.

Our leadership component uses various teaching methods including artistic drawing, acting improvisation, music and creative expression through the arts. Youth build self confidence and use effective communication and teamwoork to achieve various learning objectives.

Our entrepreneurship component caters to the young adult with a business mindset, giving them multiple options for success.

Good Ground Good Life has partnered with the DC Prevention Center Wards 3 & 4 to launch 3GL's  Guiding Good Choices as part of the Department of Health's Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration state initiative to prevent underaged drinking and marijuana use.  The Guiding Good Choices Program is a nationally recognized, evidence-based prevention program for parents, which aims at strengthening family bonds to reduce the instances of underage drinking, drug use, violence and other delinquent behaviors among children.

3GL's Guiding Good Choices (GGC) provides parents with the knowledge and skills needed to guide their children through early adolescence.  It seeks to strengthen and clarify family expectations for behavior, enhance the conditions that promote bonding within the family, and teach skills that allow children to  resist drug use successfully. GGC is based on research that shows consistent, positive parental involvement is important to helping children resist substance abuse and other antisocial behaviors.  A longitudinal study of parents who participated in GGC had children, who as young adults were: 9% less likely to get drunk, 11% less likely to smoke cigarettes, 16% less likely to use illicit drugs, and 11% less likely to have alcohol related problems.  The program addresses preventing substance abuse in the family, setting clear family expectations regarding drugs and alcohol (and other delinquent behaviors), avoiding trouble, managing family conflict, and strengthening the family bond.



Good Ground Good Life provides a supplemental youth program in conjuction with our Guiding Good Choices parent program. We provide 3GL's Good Choices for Youth (GCY), with informative presentations to children in grades 4th through 8th about the harmful effects of alcohol tobacco and other drugs.  We also provide positive alternate activities to protect youth from drug use.  The presentations utilizes fun and interactive ways to engage children which includes a video about drug use, open discussion, activities, and  guest speakers who provide his/her testimony about how drugs and alcohol has impacted their lives. GGC has partnered with A Drug Free World to provide literature and video segments on alcohol and drug use that have been used on a national platform. The workshops have been provided to several schools in Washington, D.C. Ward 4 schools and have been a favorite among students and teachers.  At the conclusion of our presentations, we encourage students to sign a  GCY pledge to be drug-free.