The Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County (ADAMH) is proud to support a wide range of prevention efforts that promote mental health and reduce the risk of substance use across Franklin County.
From prevention services embedded in 16 Franklin County public school districts, to funding community-based summer camps, ADAMH invests in programs that engage youth early and often. A key part of this work includes supporting youth-led initiatives that empower young people to take the lead on projects centered around mental wellness and substance use education. Past projects have included workshops on self-care and stress management and a booklet on mental health and bullying for Black girls.
For the ArkBuilders Inc. Westside Teen Leadership Academy project, youth in eighth to 12th grade developed a website to connect with other youth-led programs in central Ohio. Since it went live, the website, titled the BIPOC Youth-Led Collective, has garnered nearly 600 views.
“A lot of the time, youth are missing out on programs that they’re not aware of,” said Mohamed Amin, an adult supervisor of the project. “This group created a one-stop-shop where other youth could find resources tailored to their needs.”
Although supervised by Mohamed and Dawn Williams, the youth managed the entire project. The group began the project in fall 2024 and will continue to manage and update its website throughout the year until fall 2025, when the project wraps up.
“The kids came up with everything, from organizing the roles and responsibilities amongst each other, to identifying the target audience of their site,” Dawn said. “They created the content, the photos, the videos and designed the whole layout and color scheme of the website.”
To Hassan Amin and Yaaquub Osman, two teens who worked on the website, the project taught them how to collaborate with others.
“Sometimes people don’t take the time to listen to one another, but I learned that it’s important to have open ears,” Yaaquub said. “During the project I made sure my opinions were heard, but I also made sure I was hearing other people, too.”
Alongside a youth-led program directory, Hassan, Yaaquub and their peers included health tips and inspirational messages on the site to encourage both mental and physical wellness, priorities Hassan said are especially important to young people.
“In high school, there are kids dealing with substance abuse, but they don't say anything about it in fear of getting in trouble, and it shouldn't be that way,” Hassan said. “If other youth like us are having a problem, they should have a resource like what we’ve created to tell somebody that they need help.”
Overall, Hassan and Yaaquub agreed that the website’s purpose is to show other young people that there are positive, healthy alternatives worth exploring.
“I want this website to teach other kids that you can have fun without turning to substances,” Yaaquub said. “I learned how to have fun through building up my emotional well-being while creating this resource, and that’s something I want to pass on.”
That message of peer connection and growth was echoed by Dawn.
“This project was all about the kids having opportunities to work with their peers and to really come up with something as a group,” Dawn said. “I’ve worked with some of these kids for years, so to watch them grow through this project and work with others has been awesome to see.”