Genesis Legacy Local News Initiative

08/05/2025

GL News Mental Health Portal launching soon, storytelling, resources, YMHFA training sign-up, details on youth coping skills workshops details on our annual yep i said it, annual You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day...for National Youth Day. Did yall know our event was held on National Youth Day???

07/26/2025

RAIN OR SHINE — WE’RE INDOORS.

This Saturday, come catch the vibe, the joy, the healing.

✨ You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day
🕤 Doors open 9:30AM
📍 646 Chicago Rd, Chicago Heights

Walk-ins welcome. All teens 12–18 invited.

RSVP if you haven’t yet: bit.ly/GLYouthDayRSVP

On July 26th, teens from across the South Suburbs will gather for a day of food, fun, and powerful workshops that build real coping skills. As part of the event, we’re launching the Tell Your Story campaign—giving youth a chance to speak their truth through writing, art, or media.

07/26/2025

Parents, we know weekends get full. But this one is worth carving out time for.

You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day is happening tomorrow and we’ve got:
✔️ Workshops designed for youth
✔️ Free food & Rainbow Cone
✔️ A safe space to express, connect, and heal

🕤 Doors open at 9:30AM
📍 646 Chicago Rd, Chicago Heights
Walk-ins welcome.
RSVP if you can: bit.ly/GLYouthDayRSVP

On July 26th, teens from across the South Suburbs will gather for a day of food, fun, and powerful workshops that build real coping skills. As part of the event, we’re launching the Tell Your Story campaign—giving youth a chance to speak their truth through writing, art, or media.

07/26/2025

If you’re seeing this, it’s not too late.
Tomorrow we’re pouring into our youth like never before.

🎤 Real conversations
🎨 Creative workshops
🍦 Rainbow Cone
🎶 DJ + games
🧠 Coping tools they’ll remember

💛 You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day
🗓️ Saturday, July 26 | 🕤 9:30AM
📍646 Chicago Rd, Chicago Heights
🎯 Walk-ins welcome
🔗 RSVP: bit.ly/GLYouthDayRSVP

On July 26th, teens from across the South Suburbs will gather for a day of food, fun, and powerful workshops that build real coping skills. As part of the event, we’re launching the Tell Your Story campaign—giving youth a chance to speak their truth through writing, art, or media.

07/25/2025

Join us in welcoming Gail Akins. Her Youth Empowerment Day workshop this Saturday, “Coping Kits,” reflects her personal life. Through every area of schooling in her life, from early childhood education to graduate school, she went through life-changing experiences that she was prepared for. To protect her mental health and keep going, Gail had to create her coping kits full of ways to handle different situations. Her workshop will equip the youth with various tools to prepare them for life experiences they may face in or out of school. By the time they leave, they should be able to fill out their personal tool kits and share what they learned with someone else who may need them.

07/25/2025

Say hello to Gloria Kidd. Gloria’s Youth Empowerment Day workshop on Saturday, “You Matter - Seeing Yourself,” is centered around affirming your self-worth. Knowing who you are and how you feel about yourself is an important aspect of your overall well-being. The workshop will feature an affirmation circle, mirror exercise, strength-based activities, and more. The youth will be left with skills and frameworks that they can take into their everyday life to start seeing themselves in a more positive light.

07/24/2025

We are delighted to introduce Lydia Wooden, who will be leading the Art Expression Corner at Youth Empowerment day this Saturday. Lydia brings a unique perspective to youth support through her multifaceted approach to art and mentorship. Her artistic repertoire spans multiple mediums, including painting, mural work, watercolor, and digital illustration, each piece reflecting her profound understanding of emotional storytelling. Through her previous role as a teen counselor, she has come to believe in the transformative power of art and aims to provide compassionate guidance to youth.

07/24/2025

Meet Destiny Renee Baker, a facilitator at Youth Empowerment Day leading the "Social Media & Mental Health" workshop. By cultivating connection through communication, music, and movement, she opens the door for “real talk” about what today’s social feeds and algorithms are doing to the hearts and minds of youth. She wants to emphasize self-awareness and emotional inventory as tools for navigating digital life with confidence and clarity.

07/23/2025

Introducing Michelle Gavin, who will be running the “How to Catch a Thought” session at Youth Empowerment Day on Saturday. Her goal is for the youth to have the opportunity to try to use their words to articulate their thoughts and feelings as it pertains to mental health. She also stresses the importance of finding someone to confide in, saying that the process of communicating one's feelings with another can aid in altering the perception of one’s own situation. Michelle believes that a person’s relationship with mental health doesn't have to be adversarial. Instead she urges people to try and understand and learn from it.

07/23/2025

Meet Jamie Simond, one of our facilitators for You Matter: Youth Empowerment Day on July 26! Simond's workshop, “How to Catch a Thought,” is about teaching the skills necessary to address emotions as they arise, understand individual emotions, and catch them where they are to avoid unwanted outcomes.

07/22/2025

Introducing Wisdom Burton, who will be a facilitator at Youth Empowerment Day on July 26. Her workshop, “Social Media and Mental Health,” focuses on reminding youth of the world outside of social media and how to navigate the world within it. Seeing the positive and negative effects of social media firsthand as a teacher, she plans to teach media literacy, emphasizing the fact that social media is not real life. Youth will be able to leave with emotional regulation and mindfulness tools to help them embrace their
individuality.