Our Program
Our Love Life Ministries program is the flagship program offered by Please Live’s Love Life Ministries. From our inception, we knew we wanted to provide education to youth and young adults in a way that was easy to understand and down-to-earth.
Over the course of our history, this education has been fine tuned to cover the basics of mental illnesses and suicide prevention, focusing on real and practical ways that students can assess their peers for signs and symptoms of a problem, how to intervene, and how to get help for themselves or a friend. Our program has also expanded to include staff training to equip adults working with youth with the skills to identify and refer at-risk students, and in addition we have included a community health fair portion which brings in local help agencies and parents into the mix.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
– Galatians 6:2
STAFF
EDUCATION:
We partner with existing community agencies to provide Youth Mental Health First Aid training to staff members at a school/church/venue. Youth Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour internationally recognized evidence-based program that teaches adults how to help an adolescent who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. This training is eligible for several different types of continuing education units (CEUs).
STUDENT
EDUCATION:
After the staff members have been successfully trained in YMHFA, Please Lives’s Love Life Ministries comes in to teach the students themselves. Our presentation can be completed in as little as an hour and covers the basics for mental health and suicide prevention from a faith perspective.
We focus firstly on giving students permission to struggle and normalizing seeking help for mental, behavioral, and spiritual health, and secondly we empower students to intervene if their friends or loved ones may be struggling. We use the PACE model – Pray, Ask, Care, and Escort.
HEALTH
FAIR:
After teaching the students, we assist in coordinating a community health fair that brings the helping agencies into the church or venue. This way, students can learn about the service agencies in their community in a way that feels safe and comfortable for them. This also allows parents to be part of the conversation and to seek out resources and answers they may not have known were available to them.
The health fair is a collaborative event that brings together the community to focus on the needs of the students and also provides networking opportunities for the agency representatives as well as generating free publicity and referrals for the participating agencies.