PEORIA (25News Now) – The “Healthy Minds, Healthy Neighborhoods” program is back in Peoria to help parents learn how to handle their kids’ mental health challenges.
The initial program was created in 2013 by the Heart of Illinois United Way, but disappeared during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Junior League of Peoria picked it back up and will begin sessions this March.
The Junior League of Peoria has been around since the 1930s, raising money and developing projects to build a better community. This year, leaders launched an initiative to expand youth mental health education in the Tri-County region.
President Sandy Garza believes that picking up the “Healthy Minds, Healthy Neighborhoods” program will help achieve that goal.
“When the [United Way’s] recent community needs assessment came out, it was very clear that there was a need for increased support for mental health,” said Garza. “We specifically focused on the youth mental health arena, and we found the best way to help children is to actually help their parents with the tools that they need.”
The program teaches parents about areas of social-emotional health, such as self-regulation, building relationships, decision-making, and social awareness. Parents then get to test their knowledge by acting out real scenarios.
“Healthy Minds, Healthy Neighborhoods” is intended for parents of kids in kindergarten through sixth grade or teachers who work with that age group.
Garza said she picked that age group because parents don’t have the opportunity to learn those lessons, so she hopes to fill that gap.
“The parents know their children. They know what works best for them, so when they come here, we just give them new tools to put in their toolbox to see what would work,” said Garza.
In 2024, there were three kids in Peoria under the age of ten who became gunshot victims. Police and city leaders have said it takes more than locking juvenile criminals up in jail.
Garza believes learning healthy tools through this parenting program will help reduce the number of kids involved in crime.
“There’s no parent that has dealt with this generation before us that can teach us, so we need the new skills. We’re in this together,” said Garza.
“Healthy Minds, Healthy Neighborhoods” sessions are at the Peoria Playhouse on March 5, March 19, and April 2 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Garza said the sessions are free, but parents interested in attending must register online because they provide dinner and childcare for the kids during the lessons.
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