Blog

Kids Hope Alliance recently had the pleasure of hosting Metrotown-In-A-Day (MIAD)! This program is a One Jax initiative that promotes youth leadership and development through group activities, inner reflection, and healthy communication amongst middle and high schoolers. MIAD is a three to four-hour workshop that is available to educators, nonprofit youth programs, youth groups of faith institutions, and other organizations. Different topics such as inclusion, mental wellness, and empathy are discussed throughout the workshop, allowing participants to explore how to successfully live together in a world that is growing more diverse. Students who attend MIAD usually go on to participate in the full two-to-four-day Metrotown experience.

May is Mental Health Awareness month! Even though we should be taking care of our mental health year-round, this month is a special time to come together and share resources, support each other, and learn more. In this blog post, I’ll share five practices you can start incorporating today to help improve your mental health. But before we get into it, let’s do a very brief history lesson.

Although every day is Earth Day, we dedicate April 22nd of each year to show our support for protecting the environment.

With Women’s History Month coming to an end, I thought it’d be fun to highlight the contributions of some outstanding women throughout history. We are so fortunate to be living in a time where we can reap the benefits of those before us, who came up with wonderful ways to solve problems and improve our quality of life. Among those problem solvers, were many women who invented things that have greatly impacted our lives now. Throughout this blog post, I will be highlighting some inventions that we have thanks to women. But first, let’s have a quick history lesson.

This past Wednesday we hosted our annual KHA Vendor Fair! With over 200 people and 35 vendors in attendance, it’s safe to call our first event of the year a success. We are very grateful to everyone who showed their support and helped to make this event happen. From the KHA staff who helped setup/takedown and run the event, to the vendors who took the time to spend their day with us, everyone who participated played a very important role in the KHA 2024 Vendor Fair. The annual vendor fair is a great opportunity for our paid providers to network amongst each other. Representatives from after-school and summer programs are also able to come and learn about how the vendors can help enhance their programs.

If you're reading this blog post, I’d like to wish you a happy Black History Month! The month of February is a very special time of reflection, acknowledgment, and celebration. If you are not very familiar with the origins of Black History Month (BHM), let me give you a quick history lesson.

It’s about that time again. We’re at the start of the year, and there is a lot of talk about fresh starts, new chapters, and of course, New Year’s resolutions. As we know, many of us are not actually able to keep up with our resolutions. So, I spent some time online looking into the usual tradition and came across the practice of setting intentions. In this blog post, I’ll be discussing the difference between New Year’s resolutions and intentions, and hopefully at the end of it you can make a more informed decision about which of these practices you want to go with this year.

Recently, I had the privilege of attending a panel discussion about practicing wellness in the workplace. The panelists were Mary Jo Boyles, who is an employee health and wellness coordinator, Kenton Bibbs, CEO of Grindology Fitness, Melinda Henry, who is a Corporate Wellness Specialist, and Byron Henry, who is a Talent and Engagement Synthesizer. They all shared very insightful tips on practicing wellness in the workplace, and I would like to share what I learned with you.