TNSxUNYA: Fall Semester Reflections
This course has provided us with such a unique opportunity to take our active education and learning practices to the next level. We have been pushed to transform information in knowledge by planning and proposing projects that distinctly combat the culture of removal that too often plagues projects of the University. For our team, we have faced more bumps in the road than we anticipated, and have needed to reorganize, problem-solve, and dare I say humble ourselves, in the process of developing a mental health intervention for our NGO partner, UNYA (Urban Native Youth Association). This reflection talks a bit about our journey through the semester, and how we’re hoping to end it on a positive note.
The Project
Both contacts we have worked with from UNYA have been very kind and welcoming to our team and it has been such an honor to work with them on this project. One of the challenges we found UNYA to be facing, (beyond the specific issue of waitlisted youth), was a sense of hopelessness when it came to being able to support these youth outside of the program. As an NGO that relies on government support, but is discriminated against when it comes to funding and healthcare (i.e. covid vaccines and testing), for a minute there, we also felt a bit hopeless and unsure if what we wanted to deliver to UNYA would be something they could actually use in the present. This was especially the case after our original contact ended up leaving the organization and we met with a new UNYA representative who provided us with thorough, although conflicting information. We realized our initial intervention plan was not going to work for this community while they were battling COVID without consistent access to vaccines. Subsequently, we had to make quick adjustments only a couple of weeks before our presentation and weren’t able to fully flush out our ideas in time. However, after the presentation feedback, meeting with Hannah, and returning to old ideas we had dismissed before, we found a better way to approach the project.
After identifying the three major challenges for youth on the waitlist, we worked backward, thinking about why our digital wellness center would be difficult to implement for this community. One of the major issues these youth face is their lack of access to stable internet, technology, and public transportation. While our contact offered to use UNYA as a space for the digital wellness center to live (on their laptops and tablets), the issue would be how to make sure youth could get to the center, since counselors and mentors are not currently available to meet them wherever they are. As a part of our intervention, we decided to try and remedy this issue by petitioning the B.C. transit authority to sponsor monthly unlimited bus passes for UNYA youth on the waitlist. This solution ideally removes the issue of access to public transport and trying to find a way to get to UNYA physically. Then, our digital wellness center could work!
Another problem we encountered was the concern that youth who do make it to the center, wouldn’t be received by anyone. We wouldn’t want them to just walk into UNYA and be sat down in front of a computer if they are in a moment of crisis. Thus, we tried to think of who UNYA would be able to offer as a non-specialist support system, so we are proposing a peer mentoring program, designed to support youth on the waitlist and youth at UNYA who are ready to take another step in their healing and growing process by guiding another. (If I’m being honest, I couldn’t be more excited about our project as a whole.)
The Lessons
I have been really passionate about this project since the beginning because mental health in underrepresented communities (especially Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities), is something that is close to my heart and to my family. But this also means that I can be plagued with the same sense of hopelessness and anxiety that weighs on the youth such as those UNYA serves. There were some of us that could empathize with these youth — we understood parts of what they were going through, but I know I had a hard time imagining what a solution (amidst a pandemic) would look like.
However, after everything we’ve faced this semester, I’m grateful for my team. I think we’re all really excited about how our intervention is turning out, and I feel quite a bit more confident in the ability to combat hopelessness, even at a time such as this one.
