Fernando Padua and Sofia Siddiq know what it's like to grow up in a family where mental health isn't often talked about. What's on their mind isn't necessarily something they can easily bring up at the dinner table.
They also realize that this feeling is shared by many young Black, Indigenous, and people of color. That’s why they’re actively working to change the narrative.
On Wednesday, an inaugural event focusing on mental health for BIPOC youth will be held at North Central Naperville College — thanks to Padua, a friend, and other young students from in and around Naperville, who spent their summer organizing the first gathering.
The event, called “Our Voices, Our Minds: BIPOC Youth Navigating Mental Health,” will take place at the Wentz Science Center in North Central from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m. and will feature a panel discussion as well as a community resource exhibit.
The event is free and open to all, though it will primarily target youth, their families, educators, and community organizations. Live music and a variety of entertainment—such as a henna station and the opportunity to participate in the Wall of Affirmation, for example—will also be included in Wednesday’s programming.
Organizers say the goal is to create an event that showcases the intersection of mental health and culture. They envision a night that leaves attendees feeling energized and, more than anything, supported.
“I want the conference to be lively,” said Siddiq, 17. “I don’t want it to be just a regular conference. It won’t be. We’re talking about mental health, but you’re also there to enjoy yourself and learn about other cultures.”
“I really hope that everyone who attends can feel like there's a community around them… you know, a community of support and a sense of empowerment,” added Padua, 20.
Friend, a senior at Naperville North High School, and Padua, a junior at North Central College, are two of six local student leaders who were the driving force behind Wednesday’s event. Other youth organizers on the event planning committee are from Lewis University in Romeoville, Aurora University, Lemont High School, as well as a few representatives from Naperville North and North Central.
The painting and community exhibition was a project that had been in the making over months.
The adventure began with a youth chapter of a Naperville-based nonprofit called the Alliance of Latinos Mobilizing Suburban Action, or ALMAS. Last spring, two youth leaders within the organization began brainstorming the idea of creating an event led by youth and organized by youth, said ALMAS President Lily Burciaga.
From there, the idea took off. They quickly focused their efforts on young people of color after conversations early in the planning process kept pulling them in that direction, Burciaga said.
“A lot of the experiences that our two young leaders (ALMAS) talked about when it comes to mental health (centered around) cultural, bicultural, multicultural experiences,” Burciaga said.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, racial and ethnic minorities and Alaska Native/American Indian populations experience numerous mental health disparities. The disparities can be the result of several factors, including financial hardship, limited access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services, and stigma surrounding mental health care.
Wanting to make the event as representative as possible, ALMAS began reaching out to other young leaders of color in the area who might be interested in joining the planning team. And so Siddiq and Badua got involved with the event.
A friend, who was born and raised in Naperville, heard about the opportunity to participate in the high school leadership program. She was immediately interested.
Recalling an initial meeting she had with ALMAS and other youth organizers, Friend said she was surprised by how similar their mental health experiences and challenges were even though they came from different backgrounds.
“I’m of Indian descent — I’m Muslim — and I remember us talking about how mental health isn’t really talked about in families of color,” she said. “It was just pushed aside, like it wasn’t a big deal. … We were able to share our opinions and how we were so similar despite our different backgrounds.”
Padua also joined the planning committee through connections he made as a student leader on the North Central campus. He said his innate interest in organizing drew him to the opportunity, but growing up as a friend made the ALMAS offer a unique opportunity to help organize an event that interested him personally.
“I have a Mexican background, and in my culture, it's taboo to talk about mental health,” he said.
He said that when he was growing up, it was sometimes difficult to control his feelings and express them to his parents, especially as the eldest of three siblings. As he got older, he took it upon himself to figure out how to manage his mental health and, in turn, how his siblings and parents could do the same.
Padua said he began therapy last summer and has been able to incorporate the lessons he's learned and the challenges he's faced into the planning process for Wednesday's event, where he will also be a committee member.
“I feel like I was really able to lend my own experiences and knowledge to this event,” he said.
Wednesday’s panel will include five other members of the local youth community as well as a mental health expert. Discussions will cover topics ranging from family engagement in mental health to improving access to culturally relevant resources and treatments. The community fair adjacent to the event will feature booths from about 15 organizations for attendees to peruse.
Padua, Siddiq and Burciaga all said they were looking forward to seeing their Night of Code come to life on Wednesday. Burciaga in particular said she was “very impressed” with what the youth planning committee had come up with for the event.
She wishes something similar had been available to her when she was younger.
Burciaga, a first-generation Mexican American from the South Side of Chicago, said she often struggled with her identity growing up. She found herself having to balance cultures, but she didn’t really find anyone or any platform to help her understand what she was going through.
“I really think having something like this and having these conversations when I was younger would have made a really big difference,” Burciaga said of the event on Wednesday.
tkenny@chicagotribune.com
Originally published: September 13, 2024 at 3:43 pm
