Asherall on Saturday Night Lights and mental health support initiatives

Beacon and Cornerstone Community Centers host specialized activities and participate in various citywide initiatives to support and enhance offerings to the community.

These include Saturday Night Lights, which is a sports program

that has enhanced community center programming by offering young people year-round free sports and enrichment activities on Saturday evenings.

The SNL program provides basketball, soccer, dance, and other sports and arts services in the community centers.

And schools, most of which are co-located with Beacon and Cornerstone programs.

There are

141 SNL programs throughout the city, of which 46 are located in Beacon and 50 are located in Cornerstone Community Centers.

In fiscal year 25, SNL programs served 4,424 participants.

We also offer mental health support services.

DYCD participated in a pilot initiative in partnership with the Mayor's Office of Community Mental Health to introduce new skills for program staff on mental health coping strategies they can use to work with young people.

In partnership with the New School Center for Global Mental Health, DYCD facilitated the first adaptation and implementation of early adolescent skills for emotions, referred to EASE, in the United States.

The intervention was specifically developed to provide a scalable, culturally adaptable, and preventive model of care for youth experiencing symptoms of anxiety,

stress, depression, and other forms of psychological distress.

The EASE initiative focused on Beacon and Cornerstone Community Centers by training center staff to support children in identifying and understanding their emotions, building on their strengths, and practicing a host of social and emotional learning skills.

EASE also supported caregivers in practicing active listening, positive discipline, spending quality time with their children, and

Practicing self-care.