Staff from The Bridge for Youth presented at the 50th annual Runaway and Homeless Youth National Grantee Training in Atlanta this past December. A conference that brings together youth support workers from across the country, The Bridge’s Clinical Director, Juli Gottschall, and Community Health Worker, Marea Perry, had an opportunity to share how The Bridge centers youth voice in everything we do with a national audience.
“Our team has a lot of valuable information to share with others in this work, especially on the national level,” Marea expressed. “We were excited to share our lived experience, and to also learn new ways we can better serve youth experiencing homelessness.”
Pictured: Juli on the left, Marea on the right.
During Marea and Juli’s presentation, titled “From Trauma to Triumph,” they discussed holistic health and wellness, the importance of youth serving resources, barriers youth currently face, and ways The Bridge uplifts staff and youth with self-love and self-care.
“We asked the question: How do we approach trauma and are we trauma informed? We also asked if youth voices are being brought to the table enough,” Marea shared.
The presentation featured videos of youth at The Bridge sharing how the support they have received here impacts them. Through this, the audience heard directly from youth on their barriers, how relationships and community partnerships impact them, and how critical it is to listen to their unique needs.
“Centering youth voice is key in this work,” Marea reaffirmed. “In order to go from trauma to triumph, youth need consistency. They need people around them to remind them how amazing they are. When we meet youth where they are and empower them, they thrive!”
Speaking on a national stage, Marea felt reaffirmed in this work.
“Not only did we get to share the unique ways we support youth, but we also got to learn from other leaders in this space.”
Seeing organizations from across the country come together to learn from one another was inspiring for our team at The Bridge. It reminded us that we all have a role to play, and that we’re not alone in this work.
“Everyone at this conference believes in youth, and I am glad to be part of that,” Marea smiled. “From here, I hope we keep building and keep learning together. We are consistently working to improve and grow our services. Having this opportunity to speak and learn at the conference is great example of that.”
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