Youth Mental Health Advocates

Community Projects

Youth Mental Health Advocates receive training in Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods. They use PAR to:

• explore the knowledge, experiences, and priorities of young people receiving services at their community-based organization (CBO);
• identify an opportunity to better support youth mental health; and,
• collaborate with youth and CBO staff to design and test a new or improved approach.

Community Project Highlights

Pilot Year 2 (2024–2025)

In Year 2, YMHA community projects led to:

Gender affirming clothing swaps for LGBTQ+ youth

A basketball tournament integrating principles of restorative practice and conflict resolution

A psychoeducation program on forming and maintaining healthy relationships

Arts-based psychoeducation inviting young people in a predominantly immigrant community to express and explore their emotions through painting, collage, and more

A psychoeducation group to promote body positivity among young women of Color, inviting greater self-acceptance, agency, and creativity 

A group combining skillful self-disclosure, evidence-based information, and compassionate conversations to consider current drug use patterns and explore resources. 

A proposal to create a gaming room, including a survey of youth at the CBO, report on mental health benefits and ways to mitigate risks, and budget

A brief psychoeducation program exploring the benefits and potential risks of gaming, along with evidence-supported strategies to manage risks

Collaboration with a local precinct to fix and improve streetlights, making it safer for young people to travel to the CBO

Violin classes and an instrument donation program to make classical music more accessible to youth of Color

A proposal to offer free community portraits, providing headshots or family photos and the chance to contribute to a “community wall” that would represent neighborhood members as they want to be seen

Improvements to an existing program for children with special needs, including 1:1 mentoring by a YMHA

Distribution of over 600 seed starter kits to local residents, advocacy for a greater CBO role in revitalizing local community gardens, and recruitment of youth volunteers 

Y2 Community Projects

“This is the power of the YMHA program. Young people with recent lived experience have the opportunity to share their wisdom and creative approaches to problem-solving to impact their agencies and communities in a positive way. As just one example, a YMHA who lives in the community knew that making the streets to and from her organization safer for young people to walk at night would increase trust from parents and allow more young people to attend programs.  She worked with the local precinct to install more street lights. Her talent, passion, and hard work earned her an invitation to work full-time at the CBO after YMHA.”

—Yolanda Lawrence, PhD, YMHA Instructor