Supporting Youth and Families During COVID-19

“Some kids won’t struggle with online school but other kids are more hands on, they love art and music class. You’re taking away sports and that's how they learn. All these programs used to be offered by the school but now they won’t have that outlet. If there was any way of providing anything like that it would be a great asset for children,” said Maria Colunga, Parent Liaison, Round Lake Area Schools District.

Brushwood Center worked with Colunga, a long-time community advocate who leads the Round Lake Bilingual Parent Advisory Committee, to facilitate a free, virtual bilingual Bird Camp for 20 Round Lake students through a pilot program with Environment for the Americas and the USDA Forest Service International Programs. The camp connected participating Latinx students with ornithologists and bird guides in Central and South America.

Through partnerships like this with vital community organizations in Waukegan, North Chicago, Round Lake, and Highwood, Brushwood Center provided nature and art programs and resources for more than 800 families through the It’s A W.I.N. (Art and Wellness in Nature) initiative. From bilingual Nature Explorer Backpacks to virtual field trips and camps, each program was customized to support the cultural, educational, and behavioral health needs of families during the pandemic.

Building on these efforts, in October Brushwood Center launched a virtual after-school program to address the growing mental health crisis for middle and high school students. “We are creating a virtual community with our students as we explore big topics like self-care, community care, and mental health through creative expression,” shared Dani Abboud.
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“By partnering with local teaching artists and community leaders, we aim to provide our students with the tools they need to navigate mental health crises, as well as help them recognize the power they already have to solve the complex issues facing our communities and environment,” Abboud added.
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These activities include poetry, visual arts, and digital artwork created through open-source coding platforms. Students will create a final project that explores their journey with stress, what gives them hope, and what they want to change as our future leaders.

Thanks to support from Illinois Humanities, Brushwood Center commissioned ethnographer Carla Aldana and illustrator Janet McDonnell to document stories of community resilience in Lake County. The above illustrations feature the story and perspective of Maria Colunga.