Cultivating wellness in a community usually takes a village, but one wellness group in the area is more like one small hut of educators that still gets the job done.
This past weekend, Social & Emotional Wellness Initiative (SEWI) celebrated its fifth anniversary as an organization, hosting a birthday party at Virginia Avenue Park. SEWI has rapidly expanded its work throughout Santa Monica and Los Angeles County, providing free mental health services to community partners.
“Our big thing is that we want social-emotional wellness for all,” said SEWI Founder and Executive Director Sarah Young-Sheppard. “We want everybody, regardless of resources, to be able to access and learn skills to help them navigate this very complex world.”
Young-Sheppard began SEWI after seeing a need for youth mental health services, partnering with local tenants like Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica and eventually collaborating with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Although SEWI works with school districts across the Los Angeles area, SMMUSD is of personal importance to the founder, a Santa Monica High School graduate.
Within the district, the organization hosts master’s level social work interns that provide direct mental health services to youth, such as one-on-one time with students, crisis intervention and an implemented curriculum based on school needs. The SELFY curriculum differs between grade levels and is facilitated during the school day, as well as in after-school and summer school spaces.
Initially created for the middle school population, which Young-Sheppard says was a “big gap” in wellness resources during “an interesting time in everybody’s life,” the curriculum abides by core components of social wellness such as personal management and building positive relationship skills. The teaching tools have now expanded to elementary school, high school and adult-based programs. The director says that elementary and middle school lessons are centered on being “engaging” with video incorporation and activity-based learning; while the pilot program for adults will center around personal reflection.
“We go where we feel the need is, and where nobody else can go or is willing to go,” Young-Sheppard said.
Beyond the classroom, the group also fills in the gaps in social settings, including creating park hangouts with pizza and activities for LGBTQ+ identifying students at John Adams Middle School. The entry point to wellness in and outside of school grounds occurs regardless of student and adults’ health insurance situation, prioritizing a pressure-free zone of emotional and social training.
“I can say that I am the person I am because of so many things that I (had) access to … (we’re) making sure that all the young people that are interested have that,” Young-Sheppard said. “So it’s also a little personal. It’s like, wow, our work is being recognized, and we can continue to grow and more kids can be served. Kids can feel supported and loved and nurtured in this ridiculous world we’re currently living in.”
The recognition recently came from the City of Santa Monica, who gave a human services grant to the organization in May. The grant has allowed for expansion of the “nimble” unit from four employees to five, and the doubling of interns that work within the city. In total, SEWI has over 100 Masters of Social Work interns placed at organizations throughout the L.A. area, providing programs and support services to over 3,000 youth.
“This was huge for us, this was a game changer … (it) opens up a wide range of abilities to support more, be involved and engage more, we are so thankful that we were a recipient of that,” Young-Sheppard said.
