“We’re just hoping to get the community together and make sure they know youth mental health is something we need to be talking about,” said Amanda Holland.
The Park Rapids Lions Club hosted a Stronger Together event on Saturday, Aug. 15 at Century Elementary School. Holland and sister Allison Brandenburg said they were inspired by a presentation by guest speaker Kaitlyn Schroeder to do something about “breaking the stigma of talking about mental health, and knowing that the community is here for everyone. You’re not alone.”
The Stronger Together Initiative’s mission, Brandenburg said, is to empower youth to build brave, healthy lives and create safe, supportive communities both on- and offline.
“We work to reduce stigma, prevent cyberbullying and ensure every young person knows that they are seen, heard and never alone,” she said.
Apart from an unplanned break due to a fire alarm, the event kept a small crowd engaged with games, resource booths, food, face painting, prize drawings, a silent auction and caricatures by artist Nate Luetgers.
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Guest speakers included Brandon Mustful, executive director with Kinship of the Park Rapids Area, which pairs youth with adult mentors.
“It takes everybody,” said Mustful. “I think any of us adults recognize the importance and value of mentorship. None of us would be where we are without mentorship.”
He related his own experience as a child of divorced parents, who filled that gap in his life by learning from a series of soccer coaches, “men in my life who made a big difference for me.”
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Kori Nelson, director of Youth Emergency Shelter and Supports (YESS), said Hubbard County currently has about 150 youth who lack stable housing.
She said YESS has successfully housed 10 homeless youth since the youth center opened, serving youth who in some cases have been turned away by other providers.
“We’re providing them with a few good hours of fun and relaxation away from whatever is going on in their life,” she said.
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Amaya Raths, currently Miss Morris Area and previously Miss Perham, shared her community service initiative, the “Let’s Crush This” anti-bullying program.
Recalling feeling left out as a child because she wasn’t thin or pretty, Rath said, “Mental health isn’t always visible. Sometimes the happiest looking person in the room is carrying the heaviest burden. … The greatest thing I’ve ever worn isn’t a crown, it’s empathy.”
Raths noted that bullying doesn’t just attack a person’s appearance. It attacks their identity, affecting how they see themselves. She stressed that every human being deserves dignity and kindness.
“Imagine for a moment that every hurtful word you’ve ever spoken was written on someone’s heart with permanent marker,” she said. “We don’t get to decide what someone remembers for the rest of their life. One sentence can become someone’s inner voice. One act of kindness can become the reason someone chooses hope.”
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Kaitlyn Schroeder of Pillager shared the story of her brother, Jacob, who took his own life in 2023 after being cyberbullied.
According to Schroeder, 71 middle school students are targeted by cyberbullying every hour, and those kids are four times more likely to think about self-harm.
Examples of cyberbullying, she said, include being left out of group chats, having private messages and pictures shared to make fun of you, fake accounts pretending to be you, leaving hurtful comments, taking hurtful polls (like who’s “weird” or “worst”) and sending mean direct messages.
“Cyberbullying can follow you home,” Schroeder said. “Unlike regular bullying, you can’t just walk away at the end of the day.”
Schroeder and her family started Jacob’s Voice, a non-profit dedicated to preventing cyberbullying. She called on members of the audience to pledge to be Jacob’s voice in the future.
She challenged everyone to call out lies (“that’s not true”), stand up for friends (“that’s not cool”), report and block abusers and reach out to the victim with kindness.
Noting that many victims of cyberbullying never tell anyone, she also pointed out some signs to watch for, such as suddenly hating social media, feeling sick when your phone buzzes, withdrawing from friends and activities, and unusual sleep or mood issues.
Schroeder shared contacts for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988), the crisis text line (text HOME to 741741) and jacobsvoice.org.
Later, Hyacinth Mosse led the audience in a guided imagery meditation, and Raths joined a drumline called Sheltered Reality, which closed the program with its focus on “drumming up kindness.”
