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Sammamish Youth Board outlines outreach, mental-health and career programs; commissioners offer support
Summary
Members of the Sammamish Youth Board described arts, careers and community-service programming to the Human Services Commission and requested help with outreach, speaker introductions and resources. Commissioners and staff offered to share contacts, volunteer opportunities and assistance with publicity and partnerships.
Members of the Sammamish Youth Board presented their year-round activities to the Sammamish Human Services Commission, describing three program committees (arts, careers and community service), recent events and plans for expanded outreach and mental-health partnerships.
Natalie Cui, program chair of the Sammamish Youth Board, said the board’s three committees run activities such as a library arts workshop, career-oriented booths planned for the farmers market and community-service projects tied to Earth Day and the Lunar New Year festival. "We are the youth ourselves, so it helps us understand better the target market," Cui said.
Vadita Duvedi, the city liaison to the youth board, and other youth board members described membership and organization: they said the board typically has about 50–60 active members in a school year, seven officer roles (chair/vice chair/program chair and others), and receives roughly 120 applications. Meetings are currently held in person and the board uses individual student projects (SIPs) to delegate events and outreach responsibilities.
Youth members raised mental-health concerns for students, citing academic pressure, college admissions anxiety, bullying, family stress and safety concerns about walking home in the dark. One student described the stress from highly selective extracurriculars and the pressure to assemble competitive resumes for college admissions. The youth board said it is exploring partnerships with state and nonprofit programs that focus on youth mental-health outreach, including contacts at a Washington youth organization (referred to in the presentation as "Hear Me WA") and the local youth advisor group.
Commissioners and staff offered practical support. Commissioners asked whether the youth board knew how to contact local providers and suggested potential connections, including city-funded providers, local nonprofit partners such as CrossPath Counseling and national organizations with local affiliates (NAMI). Commissioners also flagged upcoming volunteer opportunities — the local Day of Service on May 3 and Global Youth Service Day in April — and encouraged the youth board to use those events for outreach and recruitment.
Youth board members said outreach to schools and businesses can be slow and that the board recently lost funding for snacks and T-shirts used at events; they asked the commission for help with introductions to schools and community partners, assistance promoting events and greater recognition when youth outreach requests are made to potential partners.
A Youth Board member described existing funding channels for specific programs: the city’s Arts Commission has provided grants to youth arts programming in the past and staff noted that some youth projects have been funded through that commission’s grant process. Commission staff invited youth board members to send written requests for introductions and promotional help so staff can follow up on partnerships and potential in-kind support.
Ending: The commission thanked the youth board for the presentation and encouraged members to submit specific requests for introductions, event support and volunteer partnerships. Commissioners offered to help promote upcoming events and to connect the youth board to local mental-health and volunteer resources.
