Triad foundation prioritizes mental health for young girls
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Marginalized groups of young people in our community are often overlooked when it comes to developing critical life skills, but that's about to change in one city thanks to a grant from the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem.
'This was a necessary program for me,' says Sumiya Carter. She is a student ambassador for the Superintendent's Institute at Parkland High School. 'There were a lot of problems we couldn't help happening at Parkland,' she says. 'It was a very needed program at that time just because of the emotional turmoil.'
Carter joined in her junior year. That's a tough time for high school students who are dealing with school, friends, extra-curricular activities, and prepping for the SATs. It can be a bit much and lead to trouble for some, and that's where the Superintendent's Institute, run by The Feelings Company, comes in.
'What we found was that due to pushout phenomena, black girls were being disciplined, and more black girls were having more problems in school,' says Karen Keithel, the Chief Emotions Officer for The Feelings Company. 'They felt voiceless, so we decided to do this program right here to give them leadership skills and the emotional intelligence skills that they need.'
The Winston-Salem Foundation saw a need as well and is helping the program with a $15,000 grant from the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem. Keithel says the money will provide mental health literacy and mentorship for up to 25 black high school girls as well as give them the skills they need to be ready for college or a job after graduation.
Jada Richardson, administrator for the Superintendent's Institute and Parkland High class president, says the program is a real success story. 'TSI made a difference in my life. I'm definitely more confident….more well-spoken, and I'm very in tune with how I feel and why I feel that way,' she says. 'When I was a child, I wasn't able to tell you why I was crying or what was wrong, but now I'm able to say, 'I don't like the way you treated me, or I don't like the way you said what you said to me.' I'm very confident and outspoken about the way I feel and why I feel that way.'
In the end, emotional intelligence really does lead to success.
If you know someone who might want to join the Feeling Friends or want to help, just email Karen Keithel at: karen@thefeelingfriends.com.
Learn more about The Feelings Company at: https://www.thefeelingscompany.co/
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Feral cat crisis in Salem has residents fed up
SALEM, Ohio (WKBN) – A cat crisis in Salem has residents clawing for action. Feral cats are taking over neighborhoods, causing property damage and major concerns over public health. In a quiet corner of Salem, signs of a growing crisis slink through backyards and abandoned homes. For Brenda Austin, the issue is impossible to ignore. 'Everyone knows there is a cat problem here,' Austin said. This week, she took the issue to Salem City Council. Austin is calling on the city to support a Trap, Neuter and Release program (TNR) to address the city's growing feral cat population. 'They go into heat; they're screaming, howling, fighting. If you get them fixed, it reduces the spraying. It reduces the nuisance,' Austin said. Councilman Jeff Stockman, who chairs the Rules and Ordinance committee, said the city is ready to act and prepared to move full steam ahead with ordinances to help address the problem. The move comes after years of stalled action, largely due to a lack of enforcement resources, such as a dedicated humane officer. 'It's a community problem. It's not just a cat problem or this neighbor's problem. It's really a community problem,' Austin said. The problem is not isolated to just one or two neighborhoods. Residents are sounding the alarm citywide. 'I've spent over $10,000 out of my own pocket,' said Karena Holenchick, a Salem resident. 'So far, I have spayed and neutered six cats. Three extra cats had to be put down.'Supporters say a coordinated TNR effort would not only reduce suffering but also the nuisance behaviors that come along with the uncontrolled breeding. 'Can't enjoy the yard because they're defecating and urinating all over it,' said Amanda Baier, a Salem resident. 'We can't keep the cushions on the chairs on the front porch. It just causes all sorts of property damage, and we can't enjoy the property that we purchased.'City council is expected to begin discussing formal ordinances in the coming weeks. Austin says the solution is simple– stop the breeding and stop ignoring it. 'They're already here. So just fix the ones that are here and go from here,' she said. Councilman Stockman says the matter will be brought up at the next Rules and Ordinance Committee meeting on June 24. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Yahoo
Triad foundation prioritizes mental health for young girls
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Marginalized groups of young people in our community are often overlooked when it comes to developing critical life skills, but that's about to change in one city thanks to a grant from the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem. 'This was a necessary program for me,' says Sumiya Carter. She is a student ambassador for the Superintendent's Institute at Parkland High School. 'There were a lot of problems we couldn't help happening at Parkland,' she says. 'It was a very needed program at that time just because of the emotional turmoil.' Carter joined in her junior year. That's a tough time for high school students who are dealing with school, friends, extra-curricular activities, and prepping for the SATs. It can be a bit much and lead to trouble for some, and that's where the Superintendent's Institute, run by The Feelings Company, comes in. 'What we found was that due to pushout phenomena, black girls were being disciplined, and more black girls were having more problems in school,' says Karen Keithel, the Chief Emotions Officer for The Feelings Company. 'They felt voiceless, so we decided to do this program right here to give them leadership skills and the emotional intelligence skills that they need.' The Winston-Salem Foundation saw a need as well and is helping the program with a $15,000 grant from the Women's Fund of Winston-Salem. Keithel says the money will provide mental health literacy and mentorship for up to 25 black high school girls as well as give them the skills they need to be ready for college or a job after graduation. Jada Richardson, administrator for the Superintendent's Institute and Parkland High class president, says the program is a real success story. 'TSI made a difference in my life. I'm definitely more confident….more well-spoken, and I'm very in tune with how I feel and why I feel that way,' she says. 'When I was a child, I wasn't able to tell you why I was crying or what was wrong, but now I'm able to say, 'I don't like the way you treated me, or I don't like the way you said what you said to me.' I'm very confident and outspoken about the way I feel and why I feel that way.' In the end, emotional intelligence really does lead to success. If you know someone who might want to join the Feeling Friends or want to help, just email Karen Keithel at: karen@ Learn more about The Feelings Company at: Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Boston Globe
As housing costs rise in Boston, homelessness soars in the cities that surround it
Related : Advertisement 'We've reached a critical mass in Brockton,' said City Councilor Winthrop Farwell. 'Our city is at the center of what is really a societal crisis, and there is no good answer for how we're supposed to go about handling it.' There are many causes of homelessness. But local leaders point to one in particular to explain the recent surge: the soaring cost of housing. People gathered underneath the commuter rail tracks in Brockton on May 22. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff As people priced out of Boston flock to places like Brockton, Worcester, and Lowell — attracted by their cheaper housing costs and accessible commutes — rents in those once-affordable cities are rising at a rapid clip. That's bringing investment to cities that have long struggled to attract it, but it is also stretching longtime lower-income residents to the breaking point. Advertisement It's a vexing cycle. As encampments have cropped up, local officials are struggling to balance the needs of their poorest residents and the logistical, and ethical, problems their tents present. Related : 'We do what we can to help as many people who need it,' said Jason Etheridge, executive director of Lifebridge North Shore, a Salem-based nonprofit that runs shelters and supportive apartments in several cities north of Boston. 'There are forces in the economy that have made it much easier to become homeless. At a certain point, shelters can't fix that.' Before the past few years, Brockton had made significant progress on homelessness. There is limited data counting homeless people in most municipalities, but in 2021, officials counted 943 in a federally-designated area south of Boston that includes Brockton, Quincy, Plymouth, and Weymouth, the fewest since 2008. By 2024, that number had doubled to 1,885, the highest number since tracking began in 2005. The trends are similar in Fall River, New Bedford, Lynn, and Several things changed during the pandemic that have fueled the surge, said Joyce Tavon, CEO of the Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance, including increased rates of substance abuse and mental illness among residents of the state. But the biggest difference was the explosion of housing costs in the years that followed. Related : In Brockton, the median price for a single-family home has risen nearly 50 percent in the last five years, from $339,900 in 2020 to $500,000 in 2025, according to the real estate website Redfin. While there is limited rental data for Brockton, rents in nearby Fall River rose nearly 80 percent over five years to $1,807 a month in April, according to Zillow's Observed Rent Index. In Lowell, rents jumped 45 percent over that period, to $2,273. Advertisement That has hit 'We're talking about people whose lives are incredibly fragile, because they're living paycheck to paycheck making just enough to support themselves or their family,' said Tavon. 'All it takes is one thing to go wrong — an eviction or a medical bill — for everything to fall apart.' Related : The state has long targeted its 26 formally-defined 'gateway cities' for economic development because of their relatively affordable land and old industrial buildings that can be converted to other uses. Those goals are finally being realized due to newfound demand, and many have seen their downtowns transformed with shiny new apartment buildings, restaurants, and street life. That demand is also taking a toll. Father Bill's & MainSpring's new shelter/supportive housing site in Brockton. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff Off Route 24 in Brockton, a new shelter run by the homeless nonprofit Father Bill's & MainSpring is part of a broader housing resource center that includes permanent supportive apartments for formerly homeless people in an adjacent building. It contains 128 overnight beds and a day center with caseworkers. The new center opened last month, but it is still nowhere near enough to meet the city's needs, said John Yazwinski, president and CEO of the nonprofit. On a recent tour, Yazwinksi pointed out the spare cots he keeps handy in case the overnight beds fill up, which happens frequently. It can be disheartening, he said. Advertisement 'To a certain extent, you will always have some amount of homelessness that's related to mental health and addiction,' he said. 'But what we're seeing now, while those factors are certainly a part of it, is driven by the housing market.' Related : Jerome Jarrett knows too well how that can happen. Jarrett lives in a subsidized apartment with supportive services from Father Bill's. Before that, he spent five years bouncing between shelters. Losing his job led to an eviction, and he struggled to find new work during the pandemic and a place he could afford after that. 'I have a home now, which I am very proud of,' said Jarrett, who is 57, as he sat near the window of his new, modern-looking apartment. 'I also have a new perspective on how easy it is to lose something like this and end up with nothing.' Jerome Jerrett is living in a supportive housing unit at Father Bill's & Mainspring new housing center. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff The surge in homelessness has prompted something of a municipal emergency in Brockton and places like it. Last winter, so many tents appeared in downtown Brockton that local business owners complained to the City Council, with some saying they would have to close if the problem persisted. Howard Wright, who owns a small technology firm that was based out of a building near a popular gathering spot for homeless people, moved his business to Taunton over concerns about the safety of downtown. 'Brockton is my home,' Wright said. 'But my employees don't feel safe. I can't expect to run a business under these circumstances.' Related : In November, Advertisement Other cities, including Lowell and Fall River, No solution seems particularly satisfactory. Advocates decry camping bans as inhumane, and even some business owners reject the idea. Abandoned clothes were left on top a stone post near Perkins Park in Brockton, where homeless folks gathered before the city's camping ban went into effect. David L. Ryan/Globe Staff One Gateway city trying for a middle ground is Salem, 40 miles to the north of Brockton. City officials there passed a camping ban last year, but one that only allows encampments to be cleared when the city has shelter space available. Then they used leftover pandemic funds to open a supplementary overnight shelter downtown, which allowed them to tear down a prominent encampment near the waterfront business district. The new Salem shelter is informal at best, run by Lifebridge out of warehouse space next to a popular thrift store that the nonprofit also runs. The tall open room full of cots gets crowded quickly, said Ethridge, the executive director, and it still feels like there are too few beds. Related : It's a temporary solution to a problem that has been long in the making, city officials said. 'Our thinking is that everyone deserves a home, and a tent is not a home,' said Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo. 'We're starting at that point, and then thinking about creating enough housing that folks don't need to be living in a shelter.' To be sure, Salem is a wealthier community than Brockton, and not every city has extra money to spend on a new shelter. Father Bill's new facility was mostly paid for with donations. But the collision of homelessness and gentrification in places like Brockton won't be solved through charity alone. Advertisement 'What we're dealing with downtown is heartbreaking,' said Mary Waldron, executive director of Brockton's Old Colony Planning Council, which is based in a historic building downtown. 'People are struggling and we don't want to punish them for that. But we also want to have a thriving downtown. There is no simple answer here.' Andrew Brinker can be reached at
