YAMBassadors Summer Mentorship Program completes first year

YAMBassador participants, directors, and mentors

The UTHealth Houston Youth Aware of Mental Health Program (YAM) celebrated seven high-school students who completed the inaugural “YAMBassadors Summer Mentorship Program” on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024.

At the start of the 2023-24 school year, the YAM program partnered with several schools in the Houston area to give students a mental health lesson that included ways to cope with the stresses of being a teenager.

The YAM team was so successful and got such a great response that YAMBassadors was born. This was a six-week program where each youth was placed with a mentor from the YAM team and discussed topics such as health relationships, careers in mental health, college options, nutrition in mental health, and physical mental health. At the end of the program, each participant shared with the group what they learned over the summer. More than 200 applicants applied for the program.

Ebony Pepin, YAM program manager, says she saw growth in the participants and was pleased to see that they came away wanting to do more with the YAM program.

“This is necessary for our kids, especially in this age group,” Pepin said. “These kids are our future, so if we don’t help them to be mentally well, where is that going to leave our future?”