MOVE It Forward 2023:
Self-Care in Youth Advocacy
MOVE-ing Towards Healing
MOVE It Forward
Youth MOVE National’s Children’s Mental Health Awareness Campaign “MOVE It Forward” is the slogan for much deeper work—uniting individual youth from Youth MOVE Chapters across the country in crafting and presenting a message, a demand for change. Each year the most pressing issue for our network may change, but Youth MOVE will still be here to MOVE It Forward.
The Importance of Self-Care
The work and efforts of youth advocating in our systems change efforts can be taxing on bodies and minds. This is lifelong work. If we don’t center self-care strategies and boundaries, it can leave youth (and youth advocates) feeling burnt out. Join us this month as we highlight the work and voices of youth & youth advocates and ways we can all center self-care. In addition, we will also be centering self-care strategies and actions that you can use in your day-to-day life, as well as examining organizational self-care. Often self-care is delegated to the individual, burden-shifting harm that organizations and systems create in the first place. We believe that organizations and systems have the responsibility to work to reduce and change this harm. We invite our network of youth advocates this month to join us as we spread the message with youth across that nation that self-care is not only important, it is needed, and you are not alone.
Celebrate Children’s Mental Health Awareness
No matter what your plan is for CMHA Day, we challenge you to post something on your website or social media about your project. This May, share a message online that will be part of your larger campaign. If you have established an idea, make it bigger! Make a flyer, share a graphic, or share a video of your group chatting about the idea. Be sure to @YouthMOVENational and tag us on social media platforms! #CMHA2023 #MoveItForward.
2023 Toolkit:
Self-Care in Youth Advocacy
We are so excited that you will be joining us for YMN’s 8th annual MOVE It Forward campaign! MOVE It Forward is a chance for all of us to work together on a singular issue at the same time. We see this campaign as an opportunity to push forward important policy issues and youth-driven recommendations that are important right now, and we hope you are inspired to take the projects described in this toolkit to the next level!
Nationwide Project:
Self-Care Community Padlet
Our theme for 2023 promotes the importance of self-care, particularly for those doing youth advocacy work themselves. While we will share a variety of different activities and suggestions for self-care during the month of May, we want to hear from our network of youth advocates on self-care tips that work for YOU! We aim to create a space for youth and young adults to share their own methods of self-care.
We have a public Padlet board with some open-ended prompts where you can share drawings, writing/poetry, audio samples, images, video, links, and more! This flexible space allows you to share whatever answer each question for you! Want to share a song from spotify or upload an original podcast? We have space and want you to share your self-care tips and resources with the world! We only ask that you share a little about how/why you are sharing a specific piece of media (whether it is a personal creation or an inspirational share).
Guiding topics for this project will be:
– What does self-care mean to you? How has it positively affected your healing journey?
– Do you have a message to share with peers and youth advocates to help them in their journey towards healing?
– Do you have any tips or resources that help support peers and youth advocates as they intentionally incorporate self-care into their daily lives?
For more info on how to use Padlet, see the MOVE It Forward Toolkit!
National Event: Filling Your Cup – Self-Care Practice for Youth and Advocates for Youth with Messages of Hope in Recovery from Youth with Lived Experiences
Tuesday, May 9th at 1:00pm to 2:00pm EST
How can we build up a sustainable & doable practice of self-care? How do we balance bubble baths with self-reflection, on top of doing the hard work of regular self-care? This presentation focuses on the importance of strategies and self reflection tools you can use for managing your self-care. Centered on healing and an intersectional approach, we will cover the 8 Dimensions of Wellness, as well as crafting strategies around your personal mission, and self-reflection practices. We will encourage and provide tools for the creation of your own self-care plan and suggestions on how to integrate that into your day to day lives. This workshop is facilitated by young adults with their own lived experience of mental health.
To end our session, we will hear from youth and young adults with broad lived experiences who will share inspiring, impactful, and empowering messages of how incorporating self-care practices into their daily lives have supported and enhanced their personal recovery journey.
Unable to attend the event? Don’t fret, we will share the recorded video here once it is available!
Messages of Hope in Recovery from Youth with Lived Experiences
Youth and young adults from the Youth MOVE National Network with broad lived experiences share inspiring, impactful, and empowering messages of how incorporating self-care practices into their daily lives have supported and enhanced their personal self-care & recovery journey.
Thank you to those that submitted your story! A special thank you to Kris Locus (they/she), John Dellick (he/him), Elizabeth Calcaterra (she/her), and the youth and youth advocates at Youth MOVE PA!