In January I had the idea to bring the Coastside together to uplift local teens. I thought deeply about how I could do this and kept getting the message that community is the answer. I decided to create a forum for local organizations who support teenagers to come together to connect with parents and students in one location. The first Coastside Teen Support and Wellness Fair was born.
After four months of reaching out to both people I knew and my now new-found colleagues, I was met with great enthusiasm for the idea. I had over 30 organizations agree to host tables at the fair and six local businesses become sponsors of the event at the Half Moon Bay Library. For extra fun, I invited a local favorite food truck to park out front, and gathered prizes for a wellness raffle.
Coastside Leadership Academy hosted the Coastside Teen Support and Wellness Fair yesterday and the event was a huge success! We had families come by to learn more about the support options on the coast, local business owners who wanted more information about how to get involved, and teens themselves come in and meet people. The energy was upbeat and lively, and you could hear the heart-centered conversations from the entrance of the library.
I think the biggest benefit was having people from the same professional support fields in the same room. School administrators got to meet school administrators, therapists met other therapists, and all kinds of great connections were made for collaboration in the future. My unexpected favorite part was watching the table hosts network with each other.
“I have emailed with this person for years, and I finally met her in person!” said one local school administrator.
“That’s fantastic,” I said. “I am so happy the event was worthwhile.”
Thank you to everyone who came out to support me and the fair yesterday! LaRue helped me carry the vision forward and make it happen. It meant the world to me to have my family there. My intern did a fantastic job organizing check in and the raffle. I was also thrilled to see the CLA students and parents in the room and representing our school community. It was an honor to host this event for the San Mateo County Coastside and I hope to continue to uplift local teens and bring the community together again soon.