LPM News Director Bec Feldhaus Adams talked with health and environment reporter Morgan Watkins about the project on youth mental health, which she produced through a fellowship with the Solutions Journalism Network.
Morgan, tell us about the audio stories you made for this project.
LPM aired three stories this summer. The first focuses on a therapy model – developed here in Louisville – for treating racial trauma in children and adults.
The second story highlights how the nonprofit Play Cousins Collective builds a village of support around Black children and helps them celebrate their identity.
And the third story, which aired this week, looks more broadly at how groups across the region are teaming up to offer mental health support in unexpected places.
Those are all pretty complex topics. How did you approach the entire reporting process?
I talked to at least 40 people – therapists, community organizers, parents, and young people of color. Most of those conversations didn’t make it into the final stories, but they all helped me better understand what’s working locally to make mental health care more accessible and less stigmatized.
Casting a wide net in terms of who I talked to helped me figure out which solutions to spotlight. After that, what helped me most was spending a lot of time with the people doing the work.
For example, for the feature on Play Cousins Collective, I went to multiple events they hosted to see their work in action.
My favorite bit of audio I recorded was of a Play Cousins staffer and a little girl working on a craft together.
I think that conversation between them was the best window into what Play Cousins is doing to help Black kids celebrate who they are and build self-confidence.
As part of your project, LPM co-sponsored a mental health festival. How did all of that come together?
Well, when I was casting that wide net and talking to a lot of local mental health professionals, I reached out to Seven Counties Services because it’s a major mental health provider here. And Seven Counties’ team kindly invited us to work with them on their annual Winners for Wellness festival.
It was a great opportunity to collaborate with Seven Counties and other local organizations to put on a great community event, and we were able to do so much more together, by combining our expertise and resources.
The festival at California Community Center featured educational and artistic activities for kids, dancing, a resource fair, free food, presentations on mental health. More than 350 people came out, and families really seemed to enjoy everything we had to offer.
The whole event felt very much in the spirit of our broader project, which reported on how different collaborations are making mental health support less stigmatized and more accessible to young people of color in Louisville.
