Healing Through Justice
Creating healing-centered communities through youth leadership.
The Healing Through Justice model has received global recognition for its impact on community healing through holistic youth leadership development and social justice engagement
At a time when we are facing a national youth mental health crisis, Healing Through Justice presents a new approach to engaging young people of color in developing and advancing solutions that promote community healing — a model where young people heal themselves while healing their community.
Chicago youth are leading a first-of-its kind partnership between Communities United and Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago to advance youth-led strategies that promote trauma recovery and mental well-being of young people while also creating innovative systems change.
Our work validates the positive effect that youth leadership and action have on issues around mental health and wellness within Black and brown communities.
What is the Healing Through Justice Initiative?
Over the past 10 years, Communities United developed the Healing Through Justice (HTJ) model: a novel, community-led, youth leadership and trauma recovery strategy. Healing Through Justice is a model for community healing informed by the narratives of hundreds of participating young people who have described improvements in mental wellbeing and healing from trauma while taking social action to address issues impacting them and their families – a model through which youth heal themselves while working to heal their communities.
Through this model, CU engages young people of color who conduct youth-led research, build alliances, and lead strategies and advocacy campaigns that are grounded in their lived experiences.
In partnership with John Walkup, MD, Chair, Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Lurie Children’s Hospital, the Healing Through Justice model has emerged as a promising model to create breakthroughs in the field of youth development and mental health. Communities United and Lurie Children’s have embarked on an 8-year path to document, evaluate, and disseminate new youth-led strategies, and their engagement with systems, to address deep-rooted challenges facing youth of color across our city.
Our Impact
+ Released Youth-led Research Report- Breaking The Beat on Mental Health
+ Responding to youth-led research, Lurie Children’s Hospital launches ~ Minds Matter
+ Youth efforts shifted $10 million from policing in schools toward healing-centered approaches to school safety in Chicago Public Schools
+ Youth-led policy implementation to address substance use in schools through health and mental health approaches. In partnership with CJSF, launched the Youth Mental Health and Healing Community of Practice
+ Youth participate in helping shape the vision of the Austin HOPE Center, a new health hub in Chicago’s westside
Driving Narrative Change
"The work that I have done with CU has been healing because it’s allowed me to become more self confident and help people around me."
"I think healing internally looks like learning how to hope or manage something until you are strong enough to face it and overcome it."
"It’s very exciting to know that our work is being recognized, especially at this moment when we are seeing a lot of need for healing in our communities. Being part of the work to create change in my community has helped me in my healing journey, and I have witnessed the same effect on my friends. We are ready to continue to grow our work and engage institutions on how they can support our vision for healing in our communities."
RECENT MEDIA
CHICAGO TRIBUNE - 2024
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A Call for City-Wide investment in Youth Mental Health Services and Community Resources
For decades, young people across the nation have struggled with mental health battles with little to no support or understanding from adults. In response, Communities United Youth Leader wrote an empowering piece in conversation with Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Dr. John Walkup calling on adult allies to support youths by investing in mental health services and community resources.
