Mental Health Journals

We are excited to share that The Firehouse Dream has received a new addition to our Mental Health Kits. A custom-designed journal created with intention and care. Our journals are designed to serve as a tool to support and process your thoughts and feelings. Inside the journal, each page is crafted to support emotional wellness. You will find: Journal Prompts - these prompts guide reflection, helping explore your thoughts, experiences, and hopes. Affirmations to remind us all of our worth. A page to read more about The Origin Story on our Mental Health Kits: how they came to be and why they exist. A Doodle Space for free expression, a Feelings Check-In, and a Breath work exercise. The journal consists of so many different things!

Healing takes many forms. This journal is just one tool, but it’s yours to shape. To doodle, to reflect, to breathe. Your story matters - and we are honored to be a part of it. These journals are included in our Mental Health Kits, which we distribute to students across the youth of Chicago and Las Vegas.

Calm Room: Check-in Circle

This week in the Calm Room, we gathered in a circle with our Program Coordinator, Liz, for a check-in that invited presence, reflection, and possibility. Liz began by going around and asking each student who participated how they were feeling. From there, we shifted to what kind of workshops the students would like to see when they come to the Calm Room. Students wrote their ideas down, which filled the center of our circle. Wrapping things up, we also asked the students to reflect on how they felt before entering the Calm Room and how they felt now.

We are grateful to the students who were a part of the Check-in Circle and to Liz, who held the space with ideas and intention. We look forward to seeing you at the next Check-in Circle!

PMSA | MHC: Bracelet Making

In honor of Suicide Prevention Month, inspirational bracelets were made with students of Proviso Math and Science Academy. With beads, charms, and string, each unique bracelet was made as a reminder of strength, care, and community. Some bracelets were made for themselves, and others were made for friends and family: the people who keep them going. Each bracelet carries a message that you are heard and you are seen.

Volunteer Night | September 2025

Last night, during our Volunteer Night, we successfully packed 200 Mental Health Kits! We appreciate our volunteers who participated and were a part of it. We gathered all the items that were put inside the kits, as well as an additional new item. The Mental Health Kits now include a new design on our journals where you can do your check-ins, answer journal prompts, and more! These Mental Health Kits will be given away this month to the students of Proviso East High School on September 18th during lunch hours, in honor of Suicide Prevention Month.

Doll Making Workshop

In our recent Doll Making Workshop, Yekseny Guerrero, MA, ATR-P explained the tradition and the history of the worry dolls. These worry dolls originated from Guatemala and Mexico, and it was a way to help anxious children and to help with their worries. Yekseny shared a story about a princess who would make her own worry dolls when she had fears. She would tell her worry dolls her fears and worries and would place them under her pillow; mindfully get those worries out of your body right before heading to sleep. After the story, each participant had post-it notes to write down their own worries.

Throughout the workshop, each person was making their own very worry doll, each being unique from another. Near the end, Yekseny started another conversation by asking questions like what colors were chosen, how tight the wrapping was during the process of making the doll, what direction the wrap was going, and the name of each doll. All these questions made everyone think more about the process of it all.

By the end of the workshop, the room was filled with laughter, scraps of fabric, and the new worry dolls that were made. This workshop was a celebration of creativity, culture, and connections - and now you have your own worry doll to hold and speak to and remind you that your worries don’t have to stay tucked inside.