Starr Commonwealth, in partnership with Summit Pointe, Battle Creek Family YMCA, and participating area schools, has opened the Student Resilience and Empowerment Center housed within the Battle Creek Family YMCA. The program’s purpose is to create a dynamic environment for middle school students that fosters resilience and helps them develop confidence, self-esteem, and a growth mindset. The goal of the program is to match students with supports that allow them to develop and flourish socially, emotionally, and academically.
Middle school-aged students from participating Calhoun County school districts will participate in the 6-week program five days a week, two and half hours per day. Students will participate in a range of empowerment and behavioral health supports including mind body skills, social-emotional practice and support, peer to peer group support, academic support, and more. The program will be at no expense for the students’ families and include family activities and engagement, including membership to the YMCA.
“Building resilience is a community practice—we are stronger when we learn together,” said Starr President and CEO Elizabeth Carey. “Through the growth of every student who participates, the Resilience and Empowerment Center will serve to bolster not only their own success, but the districts and towns they call home. The result is a more unified and empowered Calhoun County, and we are honored to work with our partners to achieve just that.”
In addition to Starr’s operational partners, they have also secured funding partners to make the vision a reality. Starr has secured philanthropic support from the Marshall Community Foundation, Santo, Maria, Frank, & John Zanetti Foundation, OP and WE Edwards Foundation, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation, the Guido A. and Elizabeth H. Binda Foundation, and the Albion-Homer United Way.
The Student Resilience and Empowerment Center is currently accepting students for its pilot phase, and will expand cohorts to full operational capacity in the fall of 2024. The student application and selection process will be coordinated through each student’s home district.
