Effort aims to prevent deaths

Lorain County Board of Mental Health creates You Belong Youth Initiative

The You Belong Youth Initiative has been created by the Lorain County Board of Mental Health in an effort to prevent student suicides.

The program, which focuses on student-created events, is aimed at promoting inclusion amongst the students in the county’s middle schools.

“You Belong came about basically as an epiphany,” said Kathleen Kern, the executive director of the Mental Health Board. “We sat around thinking of how we could address this terrible epidemic

in a way that we currently weren’t. We were talking with teachers and administrators, but it just did not feel we were having the impact we wanted.

“That is when it hit us, maybe we should center it around the kids and let them run the program.”

Kern said it was then a matter of implementing the program in the schools.

“We started the initiative three years ago, and we needed to set it up to guide the students,” Kern said. “So we brought in Mike Ferrer to be a liaison to the schools and go through the process of picking a mentor for the kids. The mentor would be in charge of the You Belong group in the school and help the kids with the programs they wanted to do. This way the students would have the means to put on the events they wanted.”

Ferrer is the vice president of the PACE (Promoting Achievement through Community Education) Foundation. He said he wouldn’t be a part of the initiative if he didn’t think it worked.

“The Board of Mental Health has really stuck with the program,” he said. “I was pitched on the student-lead idea and the board has continued to support that. The students select the mentors and really have the chance to put their stamp on the group, I love that.”

Kern said the students have really taken to the You Belong Initiative, even more than she initially thought.

“Students know they are in control and that goes a long way,” she said. “We started with six middle schools, then eight, and now nine schools. I feel the expansion into more schools speaks for itself and the students have really gotten behind the program.”

Kern said the middle school age is a pivotal time in a person’s life.

“You start to feel the depression symptoms at that age,” she said. “Those kids are emotionally vulnerable and they want to feel they are connected with a group. That is where You Belong comes in. Students are encouraged to go to their fellow classmates and include them in their conversations and activities. I feel there has definitely been a positive impact in these schools, and more and more kids want to be a part of the initiative.”

Elizabeth Wolanski, Child and Adolescent Services director for the Mental Health Board, said students feel they are a part of something bigger than themselves through the You Belong initiative.

“The school becomes one body that looks after each other and is there for one another,” she said. “The students feel there’s someone to talk to when you need them the most. The students strive to find common interests despite different upbringings. It’s about creating bridges and a more welcoming environment to help the students feel their classmates care.”

Wolanski said the initiative would not have the same success if not for the student-lead component.

“Kids always feel they are being told what to do,” she said. “They have people making all the decisions for them. They feel that this is their program, and they take pride in that. They get excited when they can take ownership of something and they know what their peers are going to like. It’s truly a great program and the goal is to implement it in all the county’s middle schools.”

Ferrer said the schools really understand what the initiative is all about.

“The mentors let the students lead the discussion, they get it,” he said. “I’ve seen everything from handing out Hershey Kisses, to forcing each other to sit with different people during lunch. It takes a lot of work for the kids in these groups. Kids don’t want to change their daily routine, but the passion these kids have is undeniable and they get the entire school included. It’s really amazing to see and I hope to welcome more schools into the fold.”

The You Belong Initiative is now in Amherst Junior High, Brookside Middle School, Eastern Heights Junior High, General Johnnie Wilson Middle School, Keystone Middle School, Langston Middle School, Longfellow Middle School, Midview Middle Schools, and Southview Middle School.

The You Belong Initiative is now in Amherst Junior High, Brookside Middle School, Eastern Heights Junior High, General Johnnie Wilson Middle School, Keystone Middle School, Langston Middle School, Longfellow Middle School, Midview Middle Schools, and Southview Middle School.