{"id":10406,"date":"2025-05-29T14:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T19:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bluekc.com\/blueprint\/?p=10406"},"modified":"2025-07-24T13:26:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:26:31","slug":"blue-kc-and-boys-girls-clubs-of-greater-kansas-city-partner-to-prioritize-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluekc.com\/blueprint\/community-and-culture\/blue-kc-and-boys-girls-clubs-of-greater-kansas-city-partner-to-prioritize-mental-health\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue KC and Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City Partner to Prioritize Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Why was winning Boys & Girls Clubs of America\u2019s Missouri Youth of the Year award especially meaningful to Zoei, one of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City\u2019s<\/a> long-time members? She says that it was important because it meant that she could showcase a topic that is close to her heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor me to be named Youth of the Year was very special and new to me,\u201d Zoei said. \u201cThe platform that has been provided to me has allowed me to talk about things that matter to me and to people who can support my ideas. I decided to make it about mental health because after experiencing the struggles of it myself, I realized how important it is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 11 years, Zoei has been a member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City, which offers fun and enriching after-school and summer programs for youth ages 5-18. Thanks to a partnership<\/a> with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC), staff at the 10 Boys & Girls Club locations in the Kansas City area can use trauma-informed practices to support the mental health of more than 5,000 kids and teens they serve each year. It\u2019s a chance to address the youth mental health crisis<\/a> following an advisory from the U.S. Surgeon General detailing kids\u2019 declining mental health<\/a>. According to the National Library of Medicine<\/a>, more than two out of three children and adolescents in the United States experience trauma by the age of 16. Trauma<\/a> can include violence, abuse or neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA big piece of what has come out of our partnership with Blue KC is really creating a space of trauma-informed language,\u201d said Anaya Echols-Spratling, Director of Whole Child Development at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. \u201cWhen it comes to language, we help our training team be knowledgeable about what needs to be implemented for youth to feel safe, have youth talk about their own mental health and be peers for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, youth from Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City were able to shine the spotlight on mental health in Washington D.C. The Club sent a group of teenage girls to a Summit for America\u2019s Youth, where they designed an advocacy project around teen mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur partnership with Blue KC really allows our youth to have a voice, and we\u2019re able to support that,\u201d said Samantha Hausker, Director of Education and Post-Secondary Planning at Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. \u201cWe had a teen mental health night last fall with 40 teens from our organization working on different skills they can use at different times in their lives when they are stressed out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the ways Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City offers mental health support is through their Chill Zone rooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe main purpose of the Chill Zone rooms is to give our youth a safe space,\u201d said Echols-Spratlin. \u201cThey are used to identify what they are feeling at that moment. Maybe something happened on the bus or at home. The environment could be too much for that moment. In the Chill Zone, they\u2019ll learn how to adapt and how can they zone out and still calm themselves in a noisy moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through safe places, caring mentors and life-enhancing experiences, the Boys & Girls Club, which has been serving Greater Kansas City for more than 100 years, does whatever it takes for youth to reach their full potential. The results show that their work is paying off:<\/p>\n\n\n\n