With the continued support of the California Mental Health Service Authority (CalMHSA), Inspire USA is thrilled to announce the expansion of digital youth programs and youth opportunities on ReachOut.com in 2013-14. New recruits will be deeply involved in helping Inspire develop new online and mobile tools to inform and support ReachOut community members experiencing tough times. Their combined efforts will also go a long way towards fighting against stigma and making a difference to young people’s mental health and wellbeing in California!

How can you help the cause? Spread the word! If you know of any young people in California, ages 16-24 years old, who are passionate about helping their peers lead happier lives, please share the opportunities below and encourage them to apply today!

Become a Virtual Peer Supporter in California!

We’re looking to recruit 45 new Peer Supporters to drive our ReachOut Forums. We’ll train and oversee these young people to lead safe and supportive online peer-to-peer community discussions and provide community outreach to promote stigma reduction, positive help seeking and generally improve the mental health outcomes for young Americans. We’ll be recruiting three groups of 15 peer supporters with Youth Summit Trainings hosted in San Francisco for each group this summer (expenses paid by Inspire).

• Cohort 1 Summit: June 25 - June 27
  Application deadline: Wednesday, May 29
• Cohort 2 Summit: July 30 – August 1
  Application deadline: Sunday, June 30
• Cohort 3 Summit: September 6 – September 8
  Application deadline: August 4

Interested in joining the stigma reduction movement by providing peer support?  For more information, check out the online application here or download the hard copy here. Hard copy applications should be submitted to: peersupporter@inspire.org

Help Inspire Launch ReachOut TXT This Fall!

ReachOut TXT will be a confidential peer-to-peer information and support text message service open to youth at a scheduled time each week. We’re looking for 12 passionate young people to join our team in-person at our San Francisco office and help drive the development and implementation of this innovative and exciting project.

ReachOut TXT Supporters will complete an extensive training before they are asked to respond to text messages. The training will focus on a variety of youth relevant topics including relationships, bullying, drugs and alcohol, violence, sex, LGBTQ issues, self-harm, suicide and ReachOut’s safety and crisis protocols.

This role would be perfect for any Bay Area young person between the ages of 16-24 years old who is passionate, friendly, and has experience providing peer support. Youth currently studying mental health or related disciplines are strongly encouraged to apply.

Connect with young people where they are and create positive change by becoming a ReachOut TXT Supporter. For more information, check out the online application here or download the hard copy here! Hard copy applications should be submitted to:textsupporter@inspire.org by July, 10th, 2013.

Coming Soon: LGBTQ Content Developer Team!

The LGBTQ Content Developerswill be a small but powerful group of 10 young people ages 16-24 who reside in California, identify as LGBTQ and are passionate about helping their peers deal with the issues surrounding sexuality and gender identity.

We’ll work virtually with these young people to develop and deliver new LGBTQ content for ReachOut.com. Together, they will come up with the topic, tone and format for 8 pieces of content relevant to LGBTQ teens and young adults seeking support and information around issues such as gender identity, sexual health and romantic relationships.

While no particular experience is necessary to be a Content Developer, relevant volunteering/non-profit work experience, writing experience, and a passion for helping peers get through tough times is a plus. Content developers are from California communities only.

If you’re interested in learning more about the LGBTQ Content Developer project, check for updates on the Get Involved page on ReachOut.com or email contentdeveloper@inspire.org with questions.

Funded by counties through the voter approved Mental Health Services Act (Prop 63)

       

Dear Inspire USA Fans,

I am very excited to join the team and be a champion for ReachOut as it grows and helps more and more youth get through tough times. I have a strong belief that online resources and mobile technology can be powerful tools in improving the lives of teens and young adults. I began my career in the U.S. Air Force as an Intelligence Officer, stationed at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Later, I realized my passion for public health and enrolled at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, graduating with an MPH in 2012.  

During my time at Columbia, I had the opportunity to develop a communications strategy with Ascel Bio, a disease forecasting start-up. I also joined in a research project under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar program, investigating the use of text messaging in community empowerment and health.  Discoveries from my research sparked the concept for my thesis on the role of text messaging in mental health literacy and help-seeking with adolescents.  Inspire USA’s mission and ReachOut’s platform seemed like a perfect fit for my background and interests in providing easy access to mental health information and support.

With Inspire USA rolling out several new projects to broaden ReachOut’s scope of services, I feel that I am joining at a very opportune time! This year ReachOut plans to develop three California-based initiatives, including a text messaging support line that aligns neatly with the thrust of my thesis.  Starting this summer,  teens will be able to text their questions or issues to ReachOut and get answers from peer responders on designated days and times. ReachOut also plans to launch a project creating new content by and for the LGBTQ youth. In addition, ReachOut will expand its corps of Peer Supporters, to provide even more engagement and encouragement to users in the forums. I look forward to an epic year ahead with ReachOut!

Cheers,
Nicola

The 90-minute webinar covered an introduction to the Stigma and Discrimination Reduction campaign, the history and impetus for ReachOutHere.com and a live tutorial on how to utilize ReachOutHere.com. ReachOutHere promotional materials can now be downloaded by California Community Colleges to distribute on their own. As a follow up to the webinar, RS&E, Inspire USA and Daniel will present a second live webinar in late February.

Visit the following link to view the ReachOutHere.com webinar:
http://cccstudentmentalhealth.org/webinars/past_webinars.php

In 2012, along with continuing to support the teens and young adults referred by ReachOut.com, Boys Town worked closely with our moderation team to develop a protocol for troubled forum users. The system allowed the community to flourish as moderators, Peer Supporters and members echoed and reinforced positive help-seeking messages.

Year-end data from Boys Town reflected these signs of success as well showing over 2,600 visits directed from ReachOut to Boys Town’s yourlifeyourvoice.org, along with 282 emails that made mention of ReachOut.

Both in the ReachOut forums and throughout the site, comments have testified to the power of the tandem support provided by ReachOut and Boys Town.

“I got off the phone with them a few minutes ago, and it really helped. I did feel sorta awkward at first, but they make it to where you actually feel comfortable. ”

“Well, just know that on here you are never alone. Everyone on here is here to help you get through whatever it is that you’re going through and if we can’t help, or you feel it’s not enough, you can always give Boys Town a call.”

“Please do not feel that you are not cared about. There are people who care about you and your life, even complete strangers. I would consider calling the Boys Town Hotline that was suggested to you.”

“This service is very good. I’m on my way to a better and healthier life.”

Emily led an interactive discussion session on how mental iIllness, particularly PTSD, can affect young people and what steps they can take to help themselves and their peers cope with stressful events. The group was encouraged to use ReachOut as a resource, and join the conversation around dealing with tough times in the new ReachOut forums.

In the new year, Emily hopes to work more with Project WHAT! youth advocates to develop ReachOut resources specifically targeted towards children of incarcerated parents,but we need your help to make it happen! If you wish to support this effort to expand our scope and help this underserved population of young people, please make a small financial contribution today by selecting the donate button or clicking here.

On October 5, a diverse group of 12 young people from all over the state of California met at the Inspire headquarters in San Francisco. We had each been selected as Social Media Content Developers for the ReachOut Here campaign, funded by CalMHSA. Some of us, like myself, had previous experience working with ReachOut, while others had been brought in recently by this exciting project. This campaign works to encourage teens and young adults to explore the ReachOut website and forums.

Inspire planned a day for us to learn about our role as content developers and bond together as a group. We started the day with different activities that allowed us to learn about each other’s interests and backgrounds. It became clear early on that even though we had diverse histories, we were connected through our experiences as young people. After becoming acquainted, we went through a training session about the stigma associated with mental illness. Fighting stigma is one of the main goals of the campaign, so it was important that we all understood the various forms of stigma. After a nice lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, we returned to work on our roles and responsibilities as content developers.

At the end of a great day of working together, we had to say our goodbyes. Even though we only were together for a short time, we all had developed a special bond. As content developers, we are going to use our skills to make an impact on the lives of young people. Meeting and working with these inspiring young people was an amazing experience. I’m excited to see what my fellow developers come up with and how they chose to share their unique experiences.

Support for the ReachOut Forums Provided By: The Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Consortium is a component of The Strategies for a Supportive program, funded by the voter-approved Mental Health Services Act (Prop. 63). It is one of several Prevention and Early Intervention Initiatives implemented by the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA), an organization of county governments working to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. CalMHSA operates services and education programs on a statewide, regional and local basis. For more information, visit www.calmhsa.org.

All messages are written for youth by youth with oversight provided by Inspire. They are opt-in youth-relevant supportive texts that encourage using positive coping strategies in the face of tough times (school, stress, family problems, depression, etc). Most teens and young adults have cell phones — and the Pew Internet Research Project tells us that a typical teen sends about 50 texts per day, with 75% of teen cell phone users having unlimited texting as a cell phone service. Cell phone use is high across race and ethnic groups, with 78% white, 79% Black, and 68% Hispanic youth having a cell phone.

By sending young people positive mental health text messages and tips, we are engaging youth where they are. This campaign was made possible by support provided by San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Service and through funding received from the Mental Health Service Act.

The Inspire USA Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the youth mental health site ReachOut.com, with the support of the ESA Foundation, today announced the winners of the National “Don’t Just Stand By” Teen Facebook App Developer Competition. This competition called on teens 13-18 to create a Facebook app that will help inform and empower potential bystanders of cyberbullying to take action. The winners are Timothy Mullican, 15, of Huntsville, Alabama, Zahair Chaudhry, 15 of Hinesburg, Vermont, and Alexa Alpern, 18, of Ocean City, Maryland.

Cyberbullying continues to be a challenging issue for teens and young adults happening through email, chat rooms, online social networking, instant messaging and web pages. Cyberbullying can happen to anyone, and the bully can act anonymously. People can also be bullied online by groups of people, such as classmates or members of an online community. First place winner, Timothy Mullican’s app, addresses these issues with a search engine that targets cyberbullying key words and phrases within “friend’s” Facebook activity. Once these words are found, the “victim” or “bystander” can report these findings to Facebook, ReachOut, or even a local adult.

These inspiring young programmers each created an app that:

• Focuses on people aged 16-24 who would be potential bystanders to cyberbullying in online spaces/communities
• Increases understanding of what cyberbullying is and the role of bystanders
• Empowers young people to want to make online spaces/communities more positive and safe for everyone
• Includes a specific call-to-action for potential bystanders
• Focuses on the positive, do not use negative language or triggering images depicting cyberbullying, self harm or suicide that could re-traumatize victims/survivors

“Based on our submission guidelines and feedback from the Inspire USA/ReachOut youth council, we are excited to announce Timothy as our winner. We think he has lots of programming promise and will benefit tremendously from being mentored by a professional software developer,” said Anastasia Goodstein, Director of Digital Programs for the Inspire USA Foundation. “We also appreciate the valuable commitment and support of the ESA Foundation for helping make this competition possible.”

Each winner will receive a cash prize as well as virtual mentorship from a professional software developer.

• Timothy Mullican, First Place, will receive $2,000 plus five hours of virtual mentorship
• Zuhair Chaudhry, Second Place, will receive $1500 and one hour of virtual mentorship
• Alexa Alpern, Third Place will receive $500 and one hour of virtual mentorship

While all of the winners are dedicated to helping stop cyberbullying, each programmer’s different background added uniqueness to their entries.

First place winner, Timothy Mullican, is no stranger to programming – he created his first app when he was in the sixth grade! Timothy just finished his ninth grade year at Westminster Christian Academy. Per Timothy, “I created my app so those who are being cyberbullied would have an easy way to identify and report offensive posts among their Facebook friends.” Winning this contest is just the beginning as Timothy’s career goal is to be an Information Security specialist for private industry or the U.S. Government.

Second place winner, Zuhair Chaudry attends Champlain Valley Union High School. Zuhair’s app focuses on pledges Facebook users can make – both by telling an adult about a cyberbullying occurrence and/or writing a supportive post in those who have been cyberbullied.

The sole female winner, Alexa Alpern, just graduated from Stephen Decatur High School and is an award winning, Olympic training figure skater. Alexa plans to follow her passion for technology as Computer Animation major at Edinboro University this fall. Alexa’s app comes in the form of a video game asking players to respond to mock cyberbullying offenses in a chat room setting.

Programmers will be matched with mentors according to the type of app they develop. Inspire USA partnered with Teens in Tech Labs, which provides tools and resources to young entrepreneurs worldwide to help encourage entrepreneurship at a young age, to help promote the competition.

About ReachOut.com

ReachOut.com is an initiative of the Inspire USA Foundation (www.inspireusafoundation.org), which is a national organization with a mission of helping millions of young people lead happier lives. Reachout.com is a safe, supportive community where teens and young adults can learn about mental health issues, read and contribute real life stories, and find resources to get help. Reach Out can also be found on twitter @ReachOutInUSA.