It's Mental Health Awareness Month!
May is finally here, and so is Mental Health Awareness Month! Our hope is to shine light on what can feel like a never-ending taboo topic. Unfortunately, mental illness is a lot more common among homeless youth than you may think. According to the Wilder Research Study posted in 2018/2019, “7 out of 10 youth experienced a chronic mental or physical health condition, or substance abuse disorder. Although youth rates of physical health and substance use disorder are lower than the adult population, youth and adults have similar rates of serious mental health conditions.”
“7 out of 10 youth experienced a chronic mental or physical health condition, or substance abuse disorder.”
— Wilder Research Study
Wildflyer’s Social worker, Kenzie, explains, “In my experience, most youth experience some form of mental health issues ranging from anxiety and depression to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And each of them are at different junctures in addressing these issues. Some are currently seeking mental health support on a regular basis, others are working with their support networks to navigate the system, and some feel that their mental health is just something they have to manage and do not want to address it formally at this time.”
“84% of youth had experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACEs), including trauma and abuse.”
A major root of mental health issues among homeless youth stems from adverse childhood experiences. 84% of youth had experienced at least one adverse childhood experience (ACEs), including trauma and abuse. On average, youth had experienced 3.2 ACEs, putting them at greater risk of health issues as adults. Many of these ACEs, combined with the instability of experiencing homelessness can be strongly connected to mental health problems among young people experiencing homelessness or housing instability(Wilder Research Study of 2018/2019).
Kenzie explains, “A mistrust in systems can impact youth seeking out mental health resources. Something I hear a lot is how youth don't want to keep telling their personal stories and trauma to new "strangers." It can be an exhausting process and at times, can feel unhelpful. Another barrier to seeking out resources is finding a therapist they are comfortable with, who also looks like them. 83% of the youth we have worked with in the last year+ identify as POC, and they want therapists that identify that way.
Although Wildflyer obviously cannot solve these complex issues completely, we do have resources to help. Youth baristas complete a two part workshop with our partner organization MoveFWD, called Mental Health & The Workplace. This workshop was created in tandem with Wildflyer and covers basic mental health but more so, it dives deeper into balancing the stressors of life while you are at work. Our goal is that our youth baristas have the knowledge and skills to manage their emotions or life stressors, inside and outside of the workplace. All youth baristas at Wildflyer work also with a licensed social worker to address different barriers they may be facing when they begin our program. For many of them, that includes trauma or mental health concerns. Our Program Manager works with them to seek out individual mental health services, if desired. This could be through MoveFWD (an organization we already partner with) or another mental health clinic in the Twin Cities. Wildflyer also offers a truly supportive work environment that meets youth where they are at in their employment journey. This means not shying away from the topic of mental health when it impacts their shop duties/responsibilities while working. This means if they need to take a sick day for mental health reasons or seek some social-emotional support (from the Program Manager) while on shift.
“Acknowledging and being empathetic to the diversity of the human experience can go a long way!”
If you’re ever wondering how to respond to complex issues like these, just remember that acknowledging and being empathetic to the diversity of the human experience can go a long way! You never know what someone is facing (or has faced) and why they are reacting to a situation a certain way. Something we strive for here at Wildflyer Coffee is understanding that you can't always check your personal life at the door during work and how to manage that.
If you’re wanting to learn more, a great place for mental health resources is the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). Their website has great statistics, resources, and next steps if you are supporting someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis.
