For 45 minutes every Tuesday, a group of kids are not told no. These kids support impactful work around decreasing substance abuse in children by engaging with SRSLY. Kate Yocum serves as the director of SRSLY, an organization in Southeast Michigan focusing on preventing youth substance use and promoting mental health initiatives.
“It’s just about creating a community where kids, families, parents and school staff feel like they all have the kind of support each of them needs to thrive in a healthy space that has resource access, support community connection and optimism for the future,” Yocum said. “The positive byproduct is our kids not feeling the need to use underage, and not drowning in mental health challenges that they don’t know how to handle. We want them to know they’re supported in addressing these challenges, and feel like they are healthy individuals that can make healthy choices.”
SRSLY provides services in Chelsea, Dexter, Manchester and Stockbridge. One key aspect of SRSLY’s work is distributing Resource Access Roadmaps to local school districts to use to help students navigate issues of substance abuse and mental health challenges. SRSLY created these roadmaps for use to help support parents or guardians of people struggling with substance abuse or are turned to when students do not feel comfortable communicating to an adult about issues.
“So often, I think underage substance use gets overlooked as recreational,” Yocum said. “Adults often mislabel it as a rite of passage. And frequently, when I talk to my students, it’s really a coping response because they’re not being given tools by the adults in their life.”
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Yocum values input from students which is why she has a 40-person student leadership team. This group works with SRSLY to make resource roadmaps, plan community events and more. As the only adult in the room, Yocum encourages the students to work with each other and have fun.
“I recognized when I first started that our teenagers have their days planned out for them from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to bed,” Yocum said. “They often say to me that they feel like the adults in their lives forget that they’re still kids and also not adults. So they’re told what to do so often like they’re kids and they’re not really given any freedom or autonomy. But also at the end of the day, the adults in their life expect them to behave like a perfectly well-adjusted adult who knows all the right answers. So they really seem to love having an inclusive space where their ideas are heard.”
Yocum jokes that she serves as their secretary and truly lets the students take the reins. The students who join this team benefit by being eligible for graduation cords, scholarships and a generally inclusive and fun community.
“I think SRSLY is special, too, in the sense that older kids have a seat at the table,” Yocum said. “And these aren’t just kids that don’t use. These are kids that may use, [or] may be struggling to quit. These are kids that may never have grown up in a home where they had the privilege of an environment that fostered healthy choices or even how to make those healthy choices.”
The third key aspect of SRSLY’s work is advocating at the state-level for changes such as advertising targeted towards children or regulation around flavored vapes. At a local level, SRSLY hosts workshops, webinars and mental health trainings through their partnership with Chelsea Hospital.
“I think our other SRSLY towns would agree it’s about creating a healthy community and that’s a big task,” Yocum said. “But I would say we are well on our way and the feedback we receive from parents, students and staff definitely reflects that opinion.”
Learn more about SRSLY by visiting their website.
