Hearts United, Inc. & City Of Charleston Partner To Host Youth Mental Health Forum

Press release from the City of Charleston:

February 16, 2021

Hearts United, Inc. and the City of Charleston are partnering to host a Youth Mental Health Forum to talk about the effects of COVID-19 and schooling. The forum will take place Saturday, February 20 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. via Zoom.

"Since COVID has started, kids have had to deal with changes in their sleep schedule along with having to do school online. This has caused a limited time with our friends and a lack of a 'safe' haven that we had for ourselves,” said Jahari Barron, Founder of Hearts United, Inc. and sixth-grader at Horace Mann Middle School. “I believe that kids need a little help with this due to the fact that isolation and the lack of stimulus can cause symptoms of anxiety, depression, etc."

Experts that will take questions during the forum include Lisa Tate-Keyser, licensed psychologist at Damous Psychological Services, Michelle Tate, counselor at South Charleston Middle School and Jahari Barron, founder of Hearts United, Inc. and sixth-grader at Horace Mann Middle School.

“Our youth have had to deal with lots of changes and uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin. “We felt it was critical to partner on this important topic and continue to support our youth however we can as this pandemic continues.”

The meeting can be accessed at https://us02web.zoom.us/J/89020576257 with meeting ID: 890 2057 6257.

This press release was produced by the City of Charleston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.