Mental Health Intensive | Week 2

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

We recently started our Mental Health Intensive at TFD! This is a four week program designed to give access to mental health resources as well as support for the youth within our community. One of our 3 pillars is Mental health and we feel that it is very important to share our stories and normalize the topic of mental health.

The first week of our program was virtual, but this past Wednesday we were able to finally meet in person! Kathy of kathykhang.com led us in breath-work during the first half. During our time with Kathy, we are able to focus on the space and the present moment and clear our minds of unnecessary thoughts. The second half of our day consisted of Erika Aguirre & Erika Luna from Oasis Project teaching different coping skills. We first discussed challenging experiences, our feelings behind them, and how we managed those situations. Afterward, we moved to stations with different objects to help cope with overwhelming feelings of stress. There were things like painting, journaling prompts, play dough, sand, scented lotion or candles, essential oils, and much more. Erika & Luna explained the purpose and benefits of each of these things and allowed each person to try out these out to see what helps!

We can’t wait for the next two weeks! Thank you to our facilitators for coming together to help make this possible.

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

A Trip To ReUse Depot

Don’t you just hate how furniture and building supplies go into landfills? ReUse Depot, a non-profit organization, prevents this from happening by reselling items that would’ve been tossed away (https://reusedepot.org). On day 3 of learning photography, we took a trip to ReUse Depot for the second time. Our mentees got to meet the store cats, look around at all the amazing antiques, and on top of that they got to photograph all of it! Its was an amazing adventure! We can’t wait to come back!

We also learned some history at ReUse Depot…the Firetruck (pictured below) was a World war II Firetruck that was then donated to Maywood. At some point between the years 1943-1980’s this very truck was Maywood’s official Firetruck, meaning it was in our Firehouse! How cool is that?!

Photoshoots & Fun

In today’s mentorship, our mentees held photoshoots for their products! They accomplished so much in a short period of time and are nearing the end. This is another big step in the process. The mentees took their own headshots and product photos for their websites. Some mentees even brought in models to showcase their hard work. All of the photos are turning out great and creative! There’s still a bit more to get done before the brands and websites are completed but it will be done before they know it! We are so proud of our mentees here at TFD and all they have accomplished in their time here!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Making Big Moves

Photo Credit: Mya Rose

Our mentees are nearly to the end of their brand creation! We have a few mentees creating clothing brands and some have received their products! They turned out great and everyone is so excited to photograph their products over the weekend! This is a major development for the mentees and TFD is so proud to help them reach their goals. Most websites are completed other than the photos that will be completed Saturday morning. Big moves and hard work has been put into these great ideas and are now becoming a reality. The mentees can’t wait to share what they have created!

Content Creating & Collaboration

Today in mentorship, TFD was visited by Mylene to discuss content creating, as well as collaboration with other brands. Mylene is an interior designer who also has a big presence on social media. She talked with our mentees about various aspects of creating content. For example, having pillars of what your brand stands for, how to entice your audience, storytelling, and how to use things like hashtags to help build your brand. When it comes to the pillars of a brand, you always want to stay true to those things and to bring them out in every aspect of what you do. Another key point Mylene discussed was building community instead of competition and ways to do that. She went over things like hashtags either created by you or others and connecting with other brands this way. Mylene also shared that when giving a pitch, you want to keep it short and sweet, getting to the point and making connections the best you can while still being captivating. Our mentees learned a lot and we are grateful to have Mylene teach us these things!

Photo Credit: Mya Rose