“Growing Together. Working Together.” is aimed at children and young people aged 10 to 17. Loneliness is widespread among children and young people. It is often associated with physical, psychological, and academic factors, making it difficult to seek and demand help. The project aims to provide support for affected individuals and their families.
“It requires sustainable measures to strengthen social and emotional skills and opportunities for social participation to reduce loneliness and promote subjective well-being as a protective factor,” emphasizes Thorsten Kaatze, CEO of EvKB. “We are therefore very pleased that the Liz Mohn Foundation has chosen our clinic as a partner for this important social project.”
Founder Liz Mohn adds: “The goal of our project is to enable affected children and young people to have a community, to show new positive perspectives for their future, and to support them on their way out of loneliness.”
The three pillars of the project are: psychological support, social and cultural participation, and mentoring. The individually tailored psychological group and individual offers address the strengthening of self-esteem, dealing with emotions, improving stress tolerance, and expanding social skills. Furthermore, there are offers for encounters with peers and project partners from both institutions. Experiencing social participation is important here: collecting positive relationship experiences in group work, trying out communal actions, and creating touchpoints with cultural offerings, such as through a joint theater visit.
In this way, lonely and self-deprecating children and young people can develop a path to building social relationships and participating in social processes. In addition to support and accompaniment by therapeutic and educational professionals, volunteers also serve as mentors for the children and young people. The children and young people are accompanied for six months each. The pilot project is designed to run for two years to give as many children and young people as possible the chance to participate.
More information about the program start, participation as an affected person, or involvement as a volunteer can be found online at: http://www.wachsen-und-wirken.de/.
