In December, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (UWGLV) and Resilient Lehigh Valley (RLV) launched the #YouthSpeakUpLV social media campaign. This ongoing project was sparked by an alarming national assessment showing a significant decline in youth mental health, a pressing issue that our organizations felt the need to address.
The content in this campaign is designed in a youth-to-parent format, aiming to spark candid, honest conversations between children and teens and their caregivers. By creating a platform for dialogue and understanding, UWGLV, RLV, Aevidum, and, most importantly, our brave local students have illuminated a path toward a more resilient future. Their courage and openness in sharing their experiences and starting conversations have been truly inspiring.
Since the campaign’s launch, community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, especially from parents who have seen the campaign as a personal call to action. This led our teams at UWGLV and RLV to brainstorm a way for parents to become more actively involved in this campaign, which led us to #ParentsOpenUpLV.
ParentsOpenUpLV is a project designed to empower parents, grandparents, and caregivers. It’s a call to action, a platform for sharing personal anecdotes, advice, and lived experiences that have shaped their current perspectives on youth mental health. We believe that your stories can inspire and guide others in similar positions.
We are honored to collaborate with parents and grandparents from diverse backgrounds, including those with professional training in mindfulness and trauma-informed practices. Every parent’s expertise is invaluable for caregivers who are eager to take action for their children’s mental health. Their active participation in # ParentsOpenUpLV underscores the credibility and depth of our campaign. We hope that the growth and resilience of all our featured parents and grandparents inspire our viewers to initiate these crucial conversations with their children.
“We want the videos to make parents feel hopeful and empowered to build stronger connections with their children,” said Ashi Singh, UWGLV’s director of community resilience.
eMediaWorks, the region’s leading educational media company, is producing the #ParentsOpenUpLV video series. We thank Lehigh County Mental Health for funding these videos, and our partners, United Way of Greater Lehigh Valley and The Guillermo Lopez DEI Institute, for their support in creating this series.
This campaign officially premiered in May on our social media platforms. To watch the videos, check out our website. Follow us on Instagram, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn to keep up with our next additions to #ParentsOpenUpLV and to learn more about how caregivers can be active advocates in their children’s mental health journey.
