May was Mental Health Awareness Month, and NYJTL is committed to supporting the emotional well-being of students and staff year-round. According to the 2023 NYC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, In Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, nearly 40% of middle and high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in the past year. To help address this urgent need in the communities we serve, NYJTL expanded a social work initiative in September 2024. Now active across our afterschool sites, the initiative fosters social-emotional development and student mental health.
Made possible through a grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, NYJTL hired licensed social worker Emily Haghtalab to lead this effort. During the 2024–25 school year, Emily guided a team of social work interns from Lehman Unviersity, Hunter College, and Columbia University to deliver restorative practices for students in grades K–12. “There are so many different ideas about what mental health means and how to take care of yourself,” Emily said. “I hope to expand and strengthen what it means to be a trauma-informed organization for both our students and staff.”
Emily structured the internship around four core areas: student support, family engagement, community outreach, and staff wellness. The interns led individual check-ins and small-group sessions that helped students reframe negative thoughts and better understand their emotional responses. Social work interns conducted qualitative surveys and found that students at I.S. 061 demonstrated significant growth in emotional awareness, including a 21% increase in their ability to identify emotions and a 21% improvement in their comfort expressing them.
To support NYJTL ACES families, Emily partnered with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Child Mind Institute to develop a multilingual community resource guide highlighting local mental health services, including BronxWorks and NYC Well. She also led on-site family workshops focused on healthy coping strategies and the importance of self-care, emphasizing that supporting a child’s mental health begins with taking care of your own—and having the practical tools to do so.
Finally, Emily worked closely with staff to help strengthen their emotional resilience, recognizing the importance of creating space to acknowledge the emotional demands of their work, and for them to feel validated in those experiences. More than 60 staff members participated in restorative and trauma-informed workshops. Through these sessions, along with Mental Health First Aid training and opportunities to observe social work interns in action, NYJTL staff gained practical tools to apply in high-stress situations.
Holding Court Speaker Series
On Tuesday, May 27, NYJTL hosted its Holding Court speaker series featuring Kelsey Louie, CEO of The Door and Broome Street Academy (BSA), in conversation with NYJTL Board Member Zakiyyah Salim-Williams. To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month and AAPI Heritage Month, the discussion explored Kelsey’s leadership journey, the importance of mental health, and the role of cultural identity and advocacy in underserved communities.
A native New Yorker and proud son of immigrant parents, Kelsey oversees a combined $40 million budget at The Door and BSA, leading strategy, operations, fundraising, policy, and program development. The Door’s mission closely aligns with NYJTL’s: to empower young people to reach their full potential through comprehensive youth development services. Reflecting on his commitment to this work, Kelsey shared, “Community saves lives. It is our job as adults to make children feel seen and accepted.”
Kelsey also addressed the youth mental health crisis in the post-COVID era. “At The Door, we need to focus on youth strengths and resilience—because when you see their strengths, the kids see their strengths,” he emphasized. He went on to speak about NYJTL’s impact and the transformative role of sports in youth development, emphasizing how it can help young people build confidence by uncovering strengths they never knew they had.
Mental Health and Wellness Day
On June 5, we started the day by partnering with Generation S.O.S. to host the second annual Mental Health & Wellness Day at the Cary Leeds Center for Tennis & Learning. The event welcomed hundreds of teens from the Bronx and surrounding areas for an inspiring program focused on mental health awareness and substance misuse prevention. Generation S.O.S., a national nonprofit, is grounded in the belief that the most powerful support comes from young people helping young people.
The day’s featured speaker, Jared, shared his own mental health journey and the years he spent avoiding support and suppressing his emotions. His turning point came, he said, when he realized: “Change happens when the pain of holding on is greater than the fear of letting go.” When asked what he would tell his 14-year-old self, Jared responded: “You are enough—and it’s okay to be enough and still need help.”
He also spoke about the importance of daily mental health practices, including morning journaling, writing poetry, and creating music. Jared closed his talk with gratitude for Generation S.O.S. and emphasized the power of vulnerability, sharing that he tells his story in hopes of breaking the stigma around mental health and encouraging young people to speak up.
Later that day, NYJTL hosted medical students from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at the Cary Leeds Center for a day of interactive health education. The visiting students set up eight different stations, giving NYJTL participants and the local Bronx community the chance to explore important topics related to mental and physical health.
The stations included:
- Diabetes Education & Blood Sugar Screening
- Hypertension Education & Blood Pressure Screening
- Mental health
- Nutrition
- Rethink your drink
- Exercise and Active Lifestyle
- The Importance of Primary Care/ ECHO Free Clinic
- Children’s Health
Supporting Mental Health All Year Long
There has been a well-documented decline in youth mental health since the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with a lack of education around what mental health truly means and how to care for it. NYJTL is actively working to close this gap—partnering with impactful nonprofits like Generation S.O.S., educating students about their own well-being, and supporting leaders like Emily Haghtalab in bringing her vital work to life. Together, these efforts are equipping NYJTL students and staff with practical tools to navigate mental health challenges and reinforcing the message that no one is alone in their struggle.