September 2024 – Parks & Recreation - 25

Ashley Faulcon and John Roche
celebrate the completion of their first
Teen Mental Health First Aid session.
Mental Health First Aid was helpful,
friendly and eager to teach more
people about the importance of
mental health. Their guidance made
a world of difference, and I cannot
thank them enough for all they do.
Prioritizing Wellness
In the East Brunswick Youth Council,
we have made mental wellness
a key part of our organization.
Three times a year we offer Teen
Mental Health First Aid training to
our youth members and give them
community service hours for completing
three mandatory classes.
Additionally, we make sure to offer
art, relaxation, movement and
outdoor wellness as a part of our
daily
programming. Our newly
renovated youth center has an entire
space dedicated to mental wellness,
called Brunswick's Cove. Perhaps
one of the biggest methods we
use to promote mental health is on
our social media pages. While social
media can have its downsides,
we have found it to be a great way
to promote the teens who have taken
Teen Mental Health First Aid
with us. Teens see their friends certified
in the training, and they get
inspired to take the training too. It
is an awesome domino effect that
has impacted not only the people
in East Brunswick Youth Council,
but also in East Brunswick overall.
At the start of this story, I mentioned
a few concerns that were
running through my mind before
I was certified
in Teen Mental
Health First Aid. Perhaps you may
have the same thoughts, and that is
completely valid. If I can offer any
comfort to you, I have never been
surer about a decision in my life.
Teen Mental Health First Aid has
allowed the youth I serve to help
their friends and help themselves.
Caitlin, John and I have gotten so
much positive feedback from our
teens about how they were able to
help their friends because of the
training they received from us. I
firmly believe that knowledge is an
invaluable gift, and I am grateful to
be able to pass this gift along to the
next generation. The biggest lesson
I have learned from this whole
process is that hope and recovery
are possible, and with the youth I
serve, I see that possibility happening
every day.
SEE ALSO: " How Parks and Recreation
Can Support Mental Health
Initiatives, " Barbara Heller and Molly
Young, Parks & Recreation, Vol. 54,
Iss. 11, tinyurl.com/2a7nfbmb.
Create Safer Streets
StreetDynamics.com
Slow down traffic in
your community
with Stalker Street
Dynamics' radar
speed signs,
messaging
signs, and
traffic data
collectors.
Ashley Faulcon, MPA, is Program Coordinator, Youth/
Community Services at Township of East Brunswick
(afaulcon@eastbrunswick.org).
Providing:
Signs
Trailers
Data
PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G | SEP T EMBER 2 0 2 4 | Parks & Recreation
25
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASHLEY FAULCON, TOWNSHIP OF EAST BRUNSWICK (NEW JERSEY)
http://tinyurl.com/2a7nfbmb http://www.StreetDynamics.com
September 2024 – Parks & Recreation

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