A local AmeriCorps partnership with the Davenport Parks and Recreation Department is starting an after-school program that teaches youth healthy ways to manage stress, regulate emotions and communicate effectively.
“STRONG Minds” is a non-clinical youth program that builds skills to help kids thrive through games, recreation, activities and guided discussions, held in person on Tuesdays and Thursdays for ages 12 to 15.
The Youth Mental Health Corps’ $460,525 grant, part of the AmeriCorps program, made this possible, and the Davenport City Council accepted it.
AmeriCorps Program Supervisor for Davenport Parks and Recreation, Jordan Litton, said a successful summer pilot showed that participants applied the coping skills and other teachings to their lives in real time, automatically, after 7 weeks in the program.
“Our hope is that we can help kids and early teens learn how to effectively use those communication skills and relationship building throughout their entire lives,” Litton said in a phone interview with WVIK.
Skills are taught by students and recent graduates in the area, such as Augustana College, Scott Community College and St. Ambrose University—using their backgrounds from different majors to facilitate activities for the kids to engage with.
Toward the end of activities, AmeriCorps members check in with the kids, as the program aims to feel less like school and instead focus on building life skills.
The foundational pilot summer camp, Camp VIBE, was deemed a success.
“One of the best things over the summer during the pilot was watching the relationships form between the teens and then the college kids because what the college kids are learning in college, they are actually getting to do it in person with the kids,” Litton said. “Watching those relationships develop, build and trust form is really awesome to see.”
Fall, winter and spring sessions are now offered with the launch of the new program.
Parents can apply for different assistance programs through Davenport Parks and Recreation to have part or all of the fee paid for them.
The program officially begins Tuesday, Oct. 13, in the teen room at the Roosevelt Community Center in Davenport, and runs until Dec. 16.
For more information, visit the Davenport Parks and Recreation website.
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