YouthWell, Behavioral Wellness to Host Student Advocacy & Wellness Summit

Saturday’s Summit Will Bring Together 100 High School Students for Day of Workshops, Learning Opportunities

Youthwell's Youth Advisory Board, including Advisor Ashley Holden-Kelly (top left), SBHS student Marina Lopez (top right), ERHS student Shani Peinado, LBS student Brandon Fuladi, SYHS student Gael Torres, and Dunn student Wainzie. | Credit: Courtesy

This Saturday, students plan to nurture their peers’ mental health, and their voices, through a student-run Advocacy & Wellness Summit.

The summit, hosted by nonprofit YouthWell’s Youth Advisory Board (YAB) and Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness, will bring together 100 high school students from all over the county for a day of workshops and learning opportunities, enabling them to raise their voices on vital issues while prioritizing their mental wellness.

The event is being organized by students like Gael Torres from Santa Ynez Valley High School, who became interested in helping people struggling with addiction and mental health after experiencing the loss of a classmate who overdosed.

And people like Wainzie, an international student at Dunn School, who shoulders a lot of pressure and misunderstanding from her parents.

On Monday, these two students got together with other YAB organizers to discuss the upcoming summit.

“There is this notion that ‘I’ve had it harder’ from parents, and kids don’t want to be a burden,” said Ashley Kelly-Holden, an advisor with YouthWell. “What youth are experiencing are real things. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. Students are bearing witness to very traumatic things, and adults struggle to address that trauma and support them.”

At that, Wainzie nodded. “They downplay it.”

YouthWell, Kelly-Holden said, addresses this by educating parents and school administrators. But Saturday is all about the kids.

Wainzie will join like-minded youth to explore topics their parents may struggle with — such as the intersections between mental health and cultural identity, marginalized communities, and human rights.

They’ll also host and take part in workshops about developing stronger communication skills, building healthy relationships, learning healthy coping strategies, and advocating for themselves and others. YouthWell wants the event to empower its young participants to be the next generation of change-makers.

And by the looks of it, they are off to a great start.

“These students are cut from a different cloth,” Kelly-Holden said, looking around the diverse group of young adults, each of whom are playing an important role in bringing the event to life.

It was a tall order for these students who also have to juggle academics, extracurricular activities, families, and jobs. But they find ways to take their own advice.

“It’s important to stop and make sure that you’re being good to yourself,” said Torres, who is hosting a workshop on the intersection between physical and mental health. “For my workshop, I’ve been meeting with specialists and nutritionists, which has helped me take away tips and tricks for my own wellbeing.”

Students will also engage in hands-on learning activities, through an arts activism workshop, and “speed-friending,” through the workshop on healthy relationships — among others. Translation services will be available, too, for multilingual learners to make the event as inclusive as possible.

Learn more about YouthWell and its Youth Advisory Board here.