Choice Louisville

BACKGROUND:

Children Have Options In Choosing Experiences Inc. (C.H.O.I.C.E.) is a Louisville-based mentoring program designed to help children forge personal development experiences, improve self-esteem and build stronger family relationships.

THE NEWS:

Due to safety restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the C.H.O.I.C.E mentorship program was unable to conduct meetings at school facilities during the week. However, with assistance from the Humana Foundation, C.H.O.I.C.E located and secured safe spaces each Saturday to ensure the continuity of its mentorship programming.

WHY IT MATTERS:

• During the 2021-22 school year, C.H.O.I.C.E’s mentoring program serviced 68 participants, with 38 students graduating from the program. This achievement led to record attendance at their Annual Conference Graduation.
• C.H.O.I.C.E partnered with NAMI-Louisville to bridge the gap between youth mental health and normalize the seeking of resources for families. This collaboration resulted in a local project that created the Louisville Youth Mental Wellness (LYMW) Bus. The Bus program will also serve as a mobile classroom for C.H.O.I.C.E., ensuring they have a safe space to conduct group learning.

IMPACT AREAS:

This program addressed the Humana Foundation’s focus areas of combatting loneliness (children) by ensuring the continuity of vital relationships between mentors in the program and school-aged kids and equity in mental health services by launching a partnership with NAMI-Louisville to make mental health services more available.

WHAT’S NEXT:

Children Have Options In Choosing Experiences received renewal interest for the upcoming program year from 95 percent of the 2021-22 school year participants. They plan to expand the capabilities of the LYMW Bus program.