TOLEDO, Ohio — Beyond Healthcare in west Toledo is offering a helping hand to kids in need.
"Our main goal is to get (kids) ready for school," said Mackenzie Combs, clinical site director for Beyond Healthcare.
Beyond Healthcare offers mental health services for children and teens ages 8-17 with full-day and after-school programs.
One of the programs offered for the first time this summer teaches kids ages 8-11 struggling with mental health how to cope with their emotions healthily.
These programs are being made in an effort to curb alarming rates of self-harm across the U.S.
According to the CDC's 2021 data summary report, nearly 40% of high-school kids "felt so sad or hopeless that they could not engage in activity for at least two weeks."
In a report by the National Center for Health from 2021, they shared that there were 6,600 deaths by suicide among the 10-24 age group in 2020.
The hope for Beyond Healthcare is to teach coping skills to young kids now that can help as they age.
"We really wanted to provide a service to the community and to those kids to have a space for them to go, to learn some skills similar to a school environment that's structured that they can take back to school with them in the fall when they return," said Dr. Mallery Neff, chief medical director for Beyond Healthcare.
Combs hopes the skills stick for kids and families.
"The younger you are, the easier it is to change habits, and so by creating healthy structures and a good support system with what we are doing at our summer program, we're able to really allow them to start learning how to navigate challenges that they have," she said.
But Beyond Healthcare is reminding all people about taking care of themselves by advising everyone to value their bodies as well as their minds.
"The biggest thing that we could do as a society for each other is to treat our brain as if it is an organ in our body," Neff said.
The program is free to anyone within the age requirements and runs all summer long from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday.
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The National 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential support for anyone in distress and resources for anyone who may need help. By dialing 988, you can be connected with a local crisis center 24/7 for help. You can also chat online at 988lifeline.org.
The Lucas County Emotional Support Line is available at 419-442-0580 from 8 a.m. to midnight and offers peer support.
If you want to talk to someone and are not in immediate danger, Text "HOME" to 741741 to be connected to the Crisis Text Line and a trained counselor. There is no charge and the information will not show up on your phone bill. You can also chat online at www.crisistextline.org.
If you are a young member of the LGBTQ+ community and need help in any way, call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386. Calls made to the Trevor Project are free and kept confidential.
Emergency Mental Health Support
The Lucas County CRISISCare line is available at 419-904-2273 to connect with a local, trained crisis counselor to discuss a mental health emergency 24/7.
The Wood County Crisis Line offers immediate assistance by calling 419-502-4673.
If a situation involves immediate danger to you or a loved one, NAMI Greater Toledo says calling 911 and talking with police may be necessary. It is important to tell 911 that it is a psychiatric emergency and ask for police officers trained in crisis intervention.