Camp Healthy Minds Brings Activities to JDC Residents This Summer

For the second year in a row, Change Inc. delivered Camp Healthy Minds, a three-week summer enrichment program grounded in The Healthy Mind Platter framework, which identifies seven essential daily activities to optimize brain health and promote well-being.

Camp Healthy Minds brings a series of engaging daily activities to young people residing in the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center (JDC). These young people, referred to as Campers, participate in daily activities that optimize brain health and promote well-being, including time to focus, connect, play, be physical, reflect, let your brain rest, and sleep. No matter how or why these campers came to the JDC, each deserves enrichment programming that makes a positive difference in their lives.

JDC Camp Counselor Team. Back row, left to right: Akeem Cubie, David Pearson, Anthony Jackson. Front row, left to right: Alec Rogers, Rodnetria Wade, and Corey Byrd.

Our Change Inc. team, known during these weeks as Camp Counselors, led various activities with the Campers. Using The Healthy Mind Platter framework’s daily mental activities—time to focus, connect, play, be physical, reflect, let your brain rest, and sleep—we designed four focus areas that made up the daily schedule of this program. Sessions included Life Skills through Basketball, Creative Arts/Wellness, Life Lessons through Film, and Dare to Be. Camp Counselors shared their life stories and lived experiences, and encouraged Campers to make positive choices through these four structured activities.

One Camp Counselor, Akeem Cubie, a Change Inc. Community Cultural Specialist, used basketball in the gym to explore the life decisions one makes during his Life Skills through Basketball activity. These discussions resonated with the Campers, who gained valuable coping skills. Life Lessons through Film was a powerful activity that allowed Camp Counselors to have deep conversations with Campers, linking movie themes to their current needs; specific topics included understanding the justice system, consequences of incarceration, racism, justice/injustice, and community. Campers watched these films together and were given moments to pause, reflect, and discuss pivotal moments in the film and in their lives.

One Camp Counselor and Mental Health Practitioner, Rodnetria Wade, MA, LAMFT, led psychoeducational groups focused on emotional awareness, stress management, communication, decision-making, confidence, relationships, conflict resolution, and coping skills. She described leaving this experience with so much more than she expected, stating, “I was continually reminded that these are young people who are navigating an environment that can feel unfamiliar and scary, both physically and mentally, and that creating space where they can simply be young people, learn, laugh, and express themselves can be incredibly meaningful.”

This is the second year our Camp Counselors have brought Camp Healthy Minds to the JDC. Six Camp Counselors—five Community Cultural Specialists and one Mental Health Clinician, all African American—facilitated the activities. Four planned and led specific programming, with one floater available for subbing or extra support, and one Change Inc. Senior Director providing supervision and engaging in specific topics and sessions. Staff echoed how important a team of Black counselors with shared identity and shared lived experience is when facilitating these program activities and discussions with the Campers. “It’s important that we have staff who looks like them—it's a huge deal to keep that going,” shared  Rodnetria.

Camp Healthy Minds Campers met with Counselors Monday through Thursday for three weeks in August. Forty-nine youth participated in at least one day in the program. Participants received a Certificate of Completion detailing completed learning objectives and the total engagement hours. Of those 49 youth who participated, 23 youth earned elective high school credit.

Change Inc. developed the Camp Healthy Minds program after learning more about the Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) programs. This enrichment programming grew out of a collaboration with Hennepin County DOCCR (Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation).