Boys & Girls Clubs in Hidalgo County host the 2022 Teen Mental Health Conference
“A Healthy Mind is the Greatest Treasure to Find.”
Boys & Girls Clubs in South Texas held a weekend long 2022 Mental Health Conference for community teens. The conference centered on the theme, “A healthy mind is the greatest treasure to find” was put together through the joint efforts of the Boys & Girls Clubs in the RGV (Edinburg, McAllen, Pharr-San Juan, Weslaco) through the Youth & Family Support Services Program.
Led by the Boys & Girls Club of Pharr-San Juan, the YFSS program was established in 2018, and is a collaborative project offered at participating Boys & Girls Clubs throughout Hidalgo County. The program provides mental health prevention, promotion, and early intervention services to children, teens and families in a youth development setting. Part of this initiative includes hosting an annual conference that shines light on the importance of mental health with a variety of educational presentations, guided activities, and social recreation.
A total of 48 teens joined together in attendance of the 2022 conference to learn and experience how to find and treasure a healthy mind. Youth engaged in empowering subject matters including: Self Esteem & Empowerment, Learning Brain Vs. Survival Brain, Substance Abuse & Mental Health, Goal Visualization, Communication & Social Skills, and Risk Factors & Building Resiliency.
Boys & Girls Club of Pharr – San Juan YFSS Program Director Aaron Leal who helped lead this event noted:
“Our 2022 Teen Mental Health Conference was an awesome and impactful experience for teens. The conference offered an opportunity for teen members to experience a camp setting that they may otherwise had not been able to. It was also created to help our Teen members build the life skills that could help empower and enrich their lives. These skills centered around building resilience to difficult situations that may occur within their lives. It also helped to build tolerance of others and taught our members the importance of diversity and inclusion. This Teen Mental Health Conference centered on providing our teen members a visualization of the tools and support system that they have to help them reach all of their goals and aspirations.”
The Boys & Girls Club of Pharr-San Juan would like to thank all of the Youth & Family Support Services site partners, staff members & program supporters who helped bring this event to life. Opportunities like these offer immense value to the health and wellbeing of our community, and we are looking forward to providing many more in the future.