Youth Lead Community Event on Mental Health Awareness and Financial Literacy

This spring, 100 youth and family members gathered at Pao Arts Center for BCNC Youth Program’s You Lead community exhibition on mental health, problem gambling awareness, financial literacy, and healthy living. Youth leaders developed interactive presentations for the community on various topics on health and well-being.

Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Office of Problem Gambling Services, the YouLead initiative is engaging youth from Boston, Quincy, Malden, and Everett in leadership development, academic support, and community education to prevent problem gambling. Youth have been participating in weekly workshops on mental health, wellness, financial literacy, and problem gambling awareness. Through leading games and practicing public speaking, youth leaders built their confidence to share their voices and engage with community members on their learnings. Youth also had the opportunity to tap into their creative skills by designing their presentations as well as the BCNC YouLead logo.

Youth leader, Huong and her peers chose “Stress Management” as the topic for their presentation. “Through workshops with BCNC YouLead, I’ve learned how to turn academic stress into motivation. I now recognize stress as a signal to stay alert and prepare for the unexpected. One helpful tool I use is the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique, which helps me stay calm when I feel anxious. You can try it too: name 5 things you see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you can taste to reconnect with yourself and your surroundings.” shared Huong.

Special thanks to our community partners: Chinese Culture Connection and Everett Haitian Community Center, and to our special guest, Dr. Heang Rubin from CHIC Community Engagement Consulting.