The Healthy Intergenerational Masculinity (HIM) Initiative is about providing a safe space for young men to express their innermost fears and feelings so they can transform their lives and the future for their children.
The idea for the Healthy Intergenerational Masculinity (HIM) Initiative was developed among Tucson social service agency leaders who wanted to break the cycle of sexual assault and domestic violence by supporting young men, engaging them as allies, and building a community culture in which teenage boys are safe to ask for help, express themselves, and become whole human beings. The goal of HIM is to develop a strategic, coordinated initiative that can fill persistent gaps in services, accessibility, scope, and scale to promote healthy masculinity among boys and men, while advancing gender parity. The HIM Initiative seeks to transform the conditions of support to improve outcomes for young men and masculine-identified youth in Tucson. Communities are strengthened when teenage boys are mentored and supported on their journey towards healthy manhood.
The core groups organizing the initiative are Boys to Men Tucson, Emerge Center Against Domestic Abuse, Chicanos Por La Causa, Goodwill of Southern AZ Youth Program, and the Women’s Foundation of the State of Arizona. A larger network of 28 collaborators is engaged, with the expectation of many more participating, including faith-based organizations, native serving organizations, community-based coalitions focusing on at-risk youth, and groups working on criminal justice reform and rehabilitation, as the initiative moves forward.
At its heart, the Healthy Intergenerational Masculinity (HIM) Initiative is about advocating for and organizing our own communities to address the root causes of violence and suffering. In its first year of operations, the HIM Initiative has already taken strides to alleviate systemic barriers that impede the way men and boys access safe and healthy lives. Through a partnership with Sopact, HIM has prioritized learning from feedback loops to evaluate and enhance the Initiative’s impact.
The Social Impact Learnings Report provides a synopsis of Year 1 learnings and how they inform the strategic plan to maximize impact for Southern Arizona through systemic advocacy, community partnerships, and leveraging valuable resources alongside our Tucson and Southern Arizona collaborative networks.
We work with male high school athletes in schools who are primarily Latinx and indigenous. Approximately half of the coaches for the adolescent boys are white men, and the vast majority of the coaches resort to toxic models of masculinity in their interactions with the boys. Many of the coaches believe that having feelings is detrimental to their athlete’s performance on the team, and view displays of sadness/crying/depression as weakness.
Comment from a participant in the Community Readiness Survey
The biggest strength in these organizations is that they operate from a place of love. They have people working within them that believe in the work and the urgency of the work. People that have knowledge and understanding of the changes that need to take place and some methods in doing that work. A community network that continues to develop and grow and in turn provide opportunities for young men and boys to be their full authentic selves.
Comment from a participant in the Community Readiness Survey
