Butler YMCA expands youth mentoring program
With each stroke of colored pencils, Scarlett Hiles gave color to K-pop group Astro.
The more color she gave to her drawing, the more her anxiety was controlled.
“I have communication problems, so I came here to help with that,” said Scarlett, 15, of The Butler YMCA's Reach and Rise program. “It's helped me better communicate because now I can talk to people.”
The Commonwealth Charter Academy freshman was one of five teens in the Reach and Rise youth group mentoring program at the Butler YMCA, 339 North Washington St., Monday evening who learned about stress.
Scarlett has attended the program for three sessions.
“I think it's safe and comfortable,” she said of the space. “It helps you feel a little more comfortable if you have problems with speaking.”
Butler YMCA officials plan to kick off the mentoring program in February at the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA, 2001 Ehrman Road in Cranberry Township.
“Reach and Rise right now is our shining star,” said Dave Hilliard, Butler County YMCA president and CEO. “It's given us a vehicle to connect what's going on in the community with the struggles that everyone's facing.”
Since its inception last fall, the program in Butler has served 40 youths, ages 8 through 15, said Kate Eberle Cotter, Reach and Rise program coordinator.
“Now, volunteers are trained at both locations, and they are developing relationships with the school districts, health providers and church youth groups in the area for intake,” Cotter said.
The program replaced the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Butler County, which only served 12 youths in 2018, Cotter said.
In 2017, when officials evaluated its Big Brothers Big Sisters program that had been offered for 20 years, the amount of youths served was low, said Sandra Ihlenfeld, Butler YMCA's executive director.
“We felt confident it was the right direction for the Butler County YMCA to move,” Ihlenfeld said.
The difference between the programs is that Reach and Rise is an evidence-based, therapeutic, group-format program that requires 15 formal training hours for mentors who follow a structured curriculum and meet in public and community spaces for the safety of its two-mentors-per-six-children ratio, she said.
Another requirement is that the program leader has to have education and experience in the clinical field.Reach and Rise is supported by the YMCA's financial annual support campaign and is offered to people at no cost, which makes the therapeutic peer-supported group accessible to families, Cotter explained.Children in the program come from a variety of backgrounds and have different needs, including those who struggle with extreme anxiety from bullying and trauma, depression, parents who are incarcerated, problems in school or autism, Cotter said.Cotter sits with families for regular meetings to discuss the needs of their children, she said. Since the program is targeted toward families, Cotter created a wall of support to offer them additional community resources.Although there is structure, not every group is the same, said Hilliard, who is a one-year Reach and Rise mentor. He and his co-mentor use therapy dogs in their group session.“The biggest thing I try to communicate is (that) what they're experiencing is normal; it's OK. Oftentimes, I think they feel so isolated. I try to tell them, 'You're not alone and we all struggle with certain things, and we need each other to get through it,' ” he said. “These are small human beings who are dealing with the same issues as bigger human beings.”Resources are used to target the needs of each child, she said, adding that another activity is a trauma-informed yoga session.Slippery Rock University music therapy students, Butler County Community College social work students and California State University of Pennsylvania students volunteered and mentored this fall, said Cotter, who is a board certified music therapist.During music therapy, students bring their own instruments regardless of whether they can play, she said. Children also share their experiences other ways, including through poems.“These youth are having the experience of, 'You're enough. What you have to contribute, what you have to bring to the table, what you experience, your interests, it's enough,'” she said. “Come as you are and we're going to acknowledge that.”The YMCA is not just the “gym and swim organization,” she said. “The epitome of why the YMCA exists is to meet unmet needs, to be a resource for the community.”Additionally, Ihlenfeld is working to bring the program to the Butler Area School District, Cotter said.“It's growing and its expanding ... It's really exciting,” Cotter said. “The hope for 2020 is that the program grows in Butler, the Butler Area School District and the Rose E. Schneider facility.”For home-schooled freshman Noah Holzwarth, friends have been hard to come by.“I joined in because I wanted some friend interaction,” said Noah, 15, who has attended two sessions of Reach and Rise.In addition to friends, the lessons he has learned translate to his everyday.Noah said he would recommend others to join the program.“I think it's helpful for people, kids our age,” he said. “It's helpful to help you figure out strategies on how to cope with different things — emotions, habits.”
