Video: Mental Health Support for YMCA Summer Camp
EVERETT, Wash. – Summer camp already looks different for kids right now, and in Snohomish County some campers will get a little extra help adjusting to this time we’re in.
The YMCA and Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County have teamed up to provide mental health programs as part of their summer camp curriculum.
Thanks to donor support the two organizations were able to hire 10 mental health counselors who will be shared between their camps. Those counselors will run curriculum and train staff. They’ll observe and pinpoint needs for specific kids or within groups. Each counselor will be assigned a handful of camps with a lot of freedom to go where they’re most needed.
“Social-emotional mental health was an area where kids were struggling. We were seeing kids with higher anxiety, more issues were popping up with what’s going on in society and with their school,” said Patsy Cudaback a senior vice president and chief operating officer for the Y of Snohomish County.
“This is just the beginning of a really important collaboration and not just around mental health, but also around leveraging the resources that each other have,” added Marci Volmer, chief operating officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County.
Both women say they’ve wanted more mental health counseling support for kids at camp and now was the time.
“We recognize that this summer we really need to step up and step in and lean in and really help these kids who are struggling,” said Cudaback.
“This is like the best thing. We have the same customers. We care about kids. We care about families. It’s our community as Snohomish County and there’s absolutely no reason for us not to work together,” said Volmer.
Both say this has been a great collaboration and they’re looking forward to extending this into the school year.
Summer camp is currently underway, and they do have room for more kids.