By Jennifer Carr | Development Director
CHL’s Umatter for Youth and Young Adults (Umatter YYA) is a youth leadership and engagement initiative that includes a full day of interactive training with peers statewide, design and implementation of a Community Action Project (CAP) in their school community, and presentation of a CAP at the local or state level. The program helps create a comprehensive strategy in schools for suicide prevention by providing students with mental health promotion skills and engaging them as community leaders.
Core content and skills of Umatter YYA include mindset, assessing personal strengths, assets and risks, resiliency, stress, self-care, strength and risk-based coping skills and consequences, recognizing signs of distress in self and others/peers, knowing what to say and do, and help-seeking.
On January 17th, CHL is kicking off this year’s Umatter YYA program by inviting schools to send a group of students with adult advisors to the Umatter YYA statewide training event at the Vermont Technical College campus in Randolph, VT. The goal is to promote mental health wellness by teaching healthy coping skills, as well as the ability to recognize when a peer needs help and how to help. This event is led by youth in partnership with adults, and we encourage groups to be composed of youth from a variety of backgrounds.
Participants will gain the background knowledge and curriculum needed to plan a CAP that is designed to promote mental health and resiliency in their community, and address issues such as bullying, substance use and suicide prevention. Umatter YYA groups will then feature their CAPs at a statewide Youth Summit to be held in the spring, which is being planned by a statewide Youth Advisory Council and as a collaboration of multiple organizations.
Young people in middle and high school ages 13-18, as well as youth in transition to adulthood ages 18-21, are invited to participate in Umatter YYA with the support of adult advisors. Currently, we have nine school groups confirmed, with 14 adults and 72 youth participating. Some of the youth participating also attended our Umatter YYA Youth Leadership Facilitator Training on December 11, 2018 and will be joining the group as leaders in the January training.
These programs are important resources within our communities that provide students with the tools they need to navigate life’s challenges. We are very grateful for the support you have given us, which helps us continue to expand the reach of our work in schools and communities. Please consider continuing your support by clicking on the "Give Now" button below to make a recurring donation that will provide long term support of our Umatter programs.
You can also learn more about all of our work by visiting our website at www.healthandlearning.org. Thank you and best wishes for a peaceful new year.
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