Intensive Sites

In June 2005, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched We Can!® in 14 Founding Intensive Community Sites across the country. The NIH provided these sites with programs/curricula; training on how to deliver them; materials; and technical assistance including guidance on how to recruit local partners and reach out to local media. In exchange, the sites agreed to implement an intensive version of the We Can! program over the course of one year.

Since then, We Can! has expanded the program to allow other enthusiastic organizations to partner with the NIH, and run the program at this intensive level, to improve national outreach. In return, they receive the following benefits:

• National recognition from the NIH on the We Can! Web site
• A free starter kit packed with resources and materials
• Access to a variety of science-based program tools and resources
• Membership in the exclusive We Can! Intensive Community Site network and participation in Intensive Site planning
• Access to success stories and lessons learned by other community sites
• Program support through technical assistance, conference calls, listservs, and eNewsletters
• National promotion of the site’s We Can! successes to national partners, federal agencies, other community sites, and the media

In exchange, the NIH asks each We Can! Intensive Community Site to implement all of the following activities in one year:

• Three or more youth programs/curricula
• Three or more parent programs/curricula
• Three or more community outreach events
• Development of local partnerships to implement We Can! programs
• Promotion of We Can! activities to their local media 
• Submission of an abstract of the year's We Can! activities for posting on the We Can! Web site

Sign up to become a We Can! Intensive Community Site. Or, you can also take a look at two other commitment levels—General Community Site and City/County.  Like intensive sites, these types of sites have different levels of involvement, but both promise to run a certain number of programs and/or events each year.