If you think of a mall, you think of a place to eat and relax, but YMCA Northern Alberta just opens a new youth hub to help and support young Edmontonians’ mental health.
Kickstand is an Albertan initiative to help youth access mental health services.
This new space in West Edmonton Mall, will allow youth, between the age of 11 and 25 access free counselling and peer support. It’s welcome news for Milania Pratoomporn, a youth advisor with Kickstand.
“I was affected kind of through, like my family network, somebody I knew passed away from suicide, and that really affected me. And I didn’t even know the person that closely. It was someone that my family knew, and it was just crazy to see the ripples that caused,” said Pratoomporn.
The youth advisor says she was able to access support, but knows it was not the same for her family friend.
“This person felt so isolated and didn’t know what to do that they’ve felt that way. And so that was definitely a drive of like things need to change, there needs to be a place where youth can feel comfortable, to talk about the things that they’re feeling and where they can get the help they need,” said Pratoomporn.
Katherin Hay, the executive director of Kickstand adds, “This space has been co-designed with young people to make it welcoming and accessible and responsive to their unique needs.
“We really want to take that responsibility as a system for making it as easy as possible for a young person to get connected to what they need.”
On top of mental health support, Kickstand will also offer employment services.
“These types of support really solve problems early so that hopefully more youth won’t think that that’s an option they need to take because it’s not – and we really wanna make sure you know there’s a place to go and that we want them to grow old,” said Pratoomporn.
Kickstand Edmonton is anticipated to help 1,500 to 2,000 youth every year. Youth can book online, or just show up. This is the fourth kickstand in Alberta.