Around 50 Naperville college and high school-aged students gathered in Naperville’s Central Park over the weekend for the first-ever Naperville Possibility Festival.
Activities at the event included sharing meals, playing games, socializing, and even an opportunity to give money to help others in Naperville.
Nina Menis, CEO and executive director of KidsMatter, a youth-oriented human services organization, says the those activities were all designed to be part of ‘CLAP’. The acronym stands for connection, learning, altruistic giving, and play.
“I already see the connections beginning to build with the young people here and the adults and parents,” Menis said. “So we’re really excited.”
Possibility Festival growing nationwide
The two-day event was one of four ‘Possibility Festivals’ being held this year nationwide.
On its website, the national organization says it aims to be a social and emotional recalibration for people who grew up in an era of isolation caused by technology.
Executive Director of the Inside Out Club, Marion Ruthig, represented just one of several organizations that helped bring the event to Naperville.
She said their event put teens front and center.
“We really helped recruit a lot of the teen leaders; this is actually the first teen-led Possibility Festival,” Ruthig said. “So it was really great to be able to reach out to teens that we had connections with and say, hey, there’s this opportunity for you to step up and come be a part of this.”
A measurable difference
Menis stressed that the national organization claims measurable differences in the mental health of people who participate in the event.
“The idea is after the event, it’s supposed to help reduce depression and anxiety, improve your mental health and connections and belonging in our community,” Menis said.
Sharing personal struggles
Speakers like Avery Murphy, founder of Avery Speaks, told attendees about her own struggles with mental health and her recovery process.
She said coming to an event like this can be a first step for many in building community for young people.
“I’m so happy that there are people like that here who have been closed off and have taken the chance [to be here] and have that courage,” said Murphy.
Making Possibility Festival happen
Other organizations supporting the event include the Alive Center for Teens and Go Brewing.
Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli said Joe Chura, founder of Go Brewing, brought the idea of a Naperville Possibility Festival to the mayor’s mental health team to fight back against mental health issues and isolation in young people.
“We need to share those stories in our community to normalize these conversations, to remove the stigma in talking about mental health,” Mayor Wehli said. “It touches every family in our community. It touches so many different people, but not talking about it is part of the problem.”
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