At Touchstone Foundation, we have three main goals:
The Youth Mentorship Partnership Program replaces our previous Children’s Behavioral Health grants program.
We paused our Children’s Behavioral Health grant cycle to reassess the current needs of Lancaster County youth regarding their mental wellbeing, after the PA Youth Survey for 2021 (released in April 2022) revealed sharp increases in youth mental health needs. From August 2022 through March 2023, we led a Youth Listening Tour, consisting of discussions with youth ages 14-26 in programs across the county. We also repeated our parent/caregiver survey about children’s mental/behavioral health to assess changes and family perceptions of youth mental wellness needs in our community.
To learn more about our youth listening tour, parent/caregiver survey, and needs assessment results, click here: Youth Mental Wellness Needs Assessment
An analysis of the youth listening tour and parent feedback survey revealed that many youths would welcome the opportunity to connect with a trained, safe, supportive adult mentor. Touchstone Foundation will partner with Lancaster County organizations who offer youth mentorship or are interested in starting programs to provide youth mentorship. Organizations seeking to partner with Touchstone Foundation must ensure that each adult mentor completes trauma informed training (online training also available) and Youth Mental Health First Aid training.
Touchstone Foundation is looking to support existing or implementation of youth mentorship programs that offer:
Touchstone Foundation will fund organizations who offer youth mentorship programs to Lancaster County residents. The funding will support the organization in completing training necessary to offer effective mentorship. This training will equip mentors with the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to provide trauma informed guidance to youth. Organizations will be supported with funding to complete training in Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Trauma Informed Training.
The application period for the Community Connections Micro Grants program has now ended. This program may reopen in July 2024, so please check back for updates.
We awarded the following grants focused on connecting the community to programs that positively impact the mental wellness of youth and their families. More awards will be announced soon.