YMCA, Viterbo, Erickson Boys & Girls Club team up to improve mental health

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – The La Crosse Area YMCA, Viterbo University and the Erickson Boys and Girls Club have joined together to help care for the community’s mental health.

The YMCA and Viterbo have been working together since January when they were identifying a common community need.

After months of planning, the two organizations have teamed up with the Boys and Girls Club to help youths learn about mental health.

Interns in Viterbo’s mental health Master’s program meet with kids of the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA to help educate them and make sure they know it’s okay to have these conversations.

Tara Allert, Viterbo counselor education and supervision doctoral student said, “Really being able to get that message out to the community that we just want to normalize these conversations about mental health, that we all have mental health and we have tons of resources in our community that we can lean into for support.”

The YMCA describes mental health as how we think, feel and act — something that not only kids, but everyone should be aware of.

For more tools and resources on mental health go to www.laxymca.org/mental-health/.

COPYRIGHT 2021 BY NEWS 8 NOW/NEWS 8000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.