”Healing yourself is connected with healing others.” – Yoko Ono

Young people have experienced a layering of crises in the past couple of years: the rapid spread of a deadly virus, financial instability as a result of the economic impact of the pandemic layered on top of long standing economic inequality, a reckoning with racial violence and injustice, school shootings, and more. These collective traumas have a real impact on young people and require new approaches to healing. Whole communities of young people need time, space and support to rediscover pride, purpose and joy in their lives.

Self expression, organizing and advocacy, as discussed earlier, are all vehicles for healing. There are also approaches apart from those that bolster healthy, sustained relationships between people, place and community, with an emphasis on creating healthy and trusting relationships among young people and between youth and supportive adults. Research has shown that consistent access to a trusted adult is key to building resilience and community connection, particularly for youth who have experienced multiple adverse childhood experiences. These adult figures can provide motivational, emotional, and instrumental support to young people, especially as they enter young adulthood. 

Photo courtesy of the Walter & Elise Haas Fund                     

Peer to peer models of support also are proving to have multiple benefits in addressing the youth mental health crisis by focusing on prevention, wellness, and culturally responsive support. After a year or more of school closures and isolation due to the pandemic, young people have missed out on a lot of in-person interactions with their friends and peers. This has impacted their ability to make new social connections and to develop skills that are critical for well-being and learning – things like relationship skills, social awareness, self awareness, self-management, and responsible decision-making. Teens in particular lean on their friendships to establish their sense of self-worth; research has proven the significance of social relationships in the well-being of young people as well as the importance of nurturing strong social support networks. In short, young people simply need to be together, in person, in supportive and healing environments.

In the words of past Battery Powered grantee Ever Forward, we are interested in supporting “safe, brave communities” of young people focused on creating and growing healthy connections with others. Some of these focus on collective healing practices found throughout history and across the globe. Some have a physical space and others gather within schools or community settings. Again, we acknowledge that this focus area is not necessarily distinct from the other two, but often interwoven.

There are many extraordinary, nationally recognized organizations that provide supportive, healing communities for young people. We are interested in uplifting local, grassroots organizations that may otherwise be unknown to our membership to give them opportunity and space for recognition, growth and funding.