In this issue: Youth In Need contributes to national toolkit on youth homelessness; staff celebrate at YIN-Fest; and YPG wraps up trivia night.

Youth In Need Part of National Toolkit to Better Serve Youth Experiencing Homelessness

“Every year, 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness on their own—700,000 are ages 13 to 17, and 3.5 million are young adults ages 18 to 25,” so begins a new publication from the National Network for Youth (NN4Y) focused on collecting resources that can help youth service agencies better serve these young people and help them avoid or quickly exit homelessness.

It’s also a publication that features Youth In Need and the agency’s work to foster diversity, equity and inclusion. The national toolkit cited Youth In Need’s investment in staff training, changes to hiring practices and our intense racial equity audit.

Erin Strohbehn, Youth In Need’s Senior Director of Youth Programs, Quality, contributed to the toolkit, discussing how biases and inequities contribute to the disparities in systems and programs that should be helping youth.

“We can’t show that we care about [our clients and staff] if we aren’t showing that we care about people of color, people of all abilities,” Strohbehn said. “It’s important that we show our young people that they matter so that they can take that with them into adulthood.”

To learn more, watch the YouTube webinar or download the toolkit.

YIN-Fest Celebrates Staff, Recognizes Service Anniversaries

Youth In Need held YIN-Fest, its annual staff appreciation event, last week for the first time since the pandemic began. After two long years of online meetings and virtual greetings, nearly 300 staff from all of our locations enjoyed a beautiful day #YINThisTogether at 370 Lakeside Park. Staff gathered to relax, dance, eat, visit, play and celebrate all that it means to be a YINner. Among the celebrations were the annual service anniversary awards and the T-shirt competition—congratulations to the Accounting team! (A huge thanks to the amazing Human Resources Department who spends countless hours organizing, planning and executing a stellar event to make staff feel appreciated!)

Thank You for Trivia Night Support

Thanks to everyone who supported the Young Professionals Group’s annual Trivia Night last week! Sixteen tables battled it out for bragging rights and raised more than $4,000 along the way. Thanks to Presenting Sponsor Mia Rose Holdings and Event Sponsors Midland States Bank and Rosemann & Associates for their support. Another round of thanks to members of the St. Charles Ancient Order of Hibernians for volunteering their time at the event.

In this issue: Academy School holds community night; May is Mental Health Awareness Month; and reserve your trivia table.

Academy School Community Night

Join us this Thursday, May 12, at 6 p.m. at The Magic House, MADE for Kids, located in the Academy-Sherman Park neighborhood at 5127 Delmar Boulevard, for our Academy School Community Night! As Academy School plans to reopen for the next school year, bring your ideas for how the program can best serve your community, and learn about the school’s early learning program.

Academy School is part of Youth In Need’s early learning program that provides Head Start and Early Head Start services to children, ages birth to five. Caring and qualified teachers help get children kindergarten-ready in free, full-day classroom settings. Children receive health and developmental screenings along with nutrition information. Staff also connect working and non-working families with other community services as needed.

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month

When the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory in December on the nation’s youth mental health crisis, he mentioned that nearly one in five children, ages 3 to 17, have a mental, emotional, developmental or behavioral disorder. Mental illness affects more than 50 million people in the U.S. During May, there’s a national movement to raise awareness about mental health and reduce the stigma of seeking help.

Quality, accessible mental health care is critical for youth as much as adults. With the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath leaving many feeling isolated and overwhelmed, the additional stigma often associated with mental health and the lack of access to affordable care has only increased the need for counseling services like those Youth In Need can provide.

Offering individual, family and group counseling services, Youth In Need provides counseling at no cost to youth 19 and younger who live or attend school in St. Louis, St. Charles or Lincoln Counties. For more information or to get started, call 314-594-5010 in St. Louis County, 636-946-0101 in St. Charles County or 636-345-4071 in Lincoln County.

Additional Information

Why We Need to Increase Access to Care

• 1 in 6 U.S. youth experience a mental health condition each year, and only half of them receive treatment.
• 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24.
• The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years.
• 1 in 5 young people report that the pandemic had a significant negative impact on their mental health.
• 1 in 10 young people under age 18 experience a mental health condition following a COVID-19 diagnosis.

 The Cost of Inadequate Care

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 10 to 34 and the 10th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
• 4% of youth in the juvenile justice system have a diagnosed mental illness.
• High school students with significant symptoms of depression are more than twice as likely to drop out compared to their peers.

Be an Advocate

Join the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ movement to advocate for a better mental health care system by signing up for advocacy alerts and taking action when opportunities arise in your community.

Just for Fun

Get emojis that help cure the stigma. Say what other emojis can’t, and download a Sentimoji™, a free emoji sticker pack that shows care and support for friends and loved ones. Available on Android or iOS.

Reserve Your Trivia Table Today!

Youth In Need’s Young Professionals Group will hold its annual Trivia Night to benefit Youth In Need on Friday, May 20, 2022, at the Bridgeton Recreation Center at 4201 Fee Fee Road. Registration is $185 for tables of eight. Don’t have a team but still want to play? Register as an individual for $25 per person, and you’ll be matched with a table. Beer, wine and soda are provided. Outside food and drinks are permitted; just no glass, please. Doors open at 6 p.m., and trivia begins at 7 p.m. Your fun-filled evening includes 10 rounds of trivia, a silent auction, raffles and more! Register or secure your sponsorship online today. For more information about the event and sponsorship opportunities or to make an auction donation, email Emily Birgenheier, Development Services Manager.

In this issue: Lighting switch to save thousands; reserve your trivia table; and save the date for Give STL Day.

More Money for Mission with Light Switch

Thanks to Ameren Missouri’s Business Social Services Incentive Program (BSS) and PCS Energy, Youth In Need is set to save approximately $28,000 each year by switching to LED lighting at six of its locations. Available to nonprofit organizations that provide social services to the community, Ameren’s BSS Program provides incentives for customers to receive installed efficient technologies that provide energy savings.

“At Ameren, we believe in working together with the communities we serve to make lasting change,” said Ryan Arnold, Ameren Missouri’s Vice President (Division Operations) and Celebration of Youth Cabinet member at Youth In Need. “It is a privilege as an Ameren employee and a volunteer with Youth In Need to know that our combined efforts will help young people in our communities thrive, as well as the organizations that serve them.”

PCS Energy, an Ameren-certified provider, replaced all the incandescent lighting in emergency exits, hallways, offices and restrooms with energy-efficient LED lighting that includes five-year bulbs. Ameren’s cash incentives to complete the work totaled more than $63,000.

Reserve Your Trivia Table Today!

Youth In Need’s Young Professionals Group will hold its annual Trivia Night to benefit Youth In Need on Friday, May 20, 2022, at the Bridgeton Recreation Center at 4201 Fee Fee Road. Registration is $185 for tables of eight. Don’t have a team but still want to play? Register as an individual for $25 per person, and you’ll be matched with a table. Beer, wine and soda are provided. Outside food and drinks are permitted; just no glass, please. Doors open at 6 p.m., and trivia begins at 7 p.m. Your fun-filled evening includes 10 rounds of trivia, a silent auction, raffles and more! Register or secure your sponsorship online today. For more information about the event and sponsorship opportunities or to make an auction donation, email Emily Birgenheier, Development Services Manager.