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Boys & Girls Club Of Santa Clarita Valley Hosts Youth Mental Health Symposium

Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley hosted a discussion on mental health recently featuring Karli Webster, a singer from Santa Clarita who appeared as a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice.”


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“No Stigmas Allowed,” commonly styled as the hashtag #NoStigmasAllowed, is a youth mental health discussion series that pairs an artist with a mental health professional to speak to youth with the goal of destigmatizing mental health issues.

The latest discussion took place at the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley, Sierra Vista Branch.

The series is produced by  Media & Repertoire and funded by a grant from the California Mental Health Services Authority and Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.


“I believe involving artists who have achieved some success would help get the kids’ attention,” said Billy Johnson, who organized the Santa Clarita talk. “I asked the artists to discuss the mental health issue that impacts them personally or through their art, and the mental health professionals to put these factors into the right context for the kids so that they understand that they should not feel embarrassed should they ever deal with anxiety, depression, bullying, self harm or any mental health issues.”

Related: Boys And Girls Club Announces Youth Of The Year Lluvia Partida

Johnson, whose family has lived in the Santa Clarita Valley since 2004, was inspired by a Whitney Houston lyric to lift up youth that may be struggling with mental health-related issues.

“I want the kids to walk away from the discussion feeling empowered, knowing what resources are available to them, how to access them and how they can support a loved one in need,” Johnson said.

Johnson applied for a grant in April after designing a plan to destigmatize mental health issues. After he was approved for a grant from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, he began to organize the “No Stigmas Allowed” series by reaching out to artists and mental health professionals.

“I was very excited when I received the news, but I also panicked because the grant had an execution deadline by the end of June,” he said. “I wasn’t sure that I could produce a four-part series in such short notice. But thank God, so many people were eager to help.”

#NoStigmasAllowed is a four-part series, with three more talks scheduled to take place during the summer.

On Wednesday, June 20, Xolo Maridueña, co-star of the YouTube Red web television series “Cobra Kai,” is scheduled to team up with Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Syreeta Butler to talk about ways to help a friend in the midst of a crisis.

Suicide prevention will be discussed during this session, which is recommended for those 13 and older.

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Boys & Girls Club Of Santa Clarita Valley Hosts Youth Mental Health Symposium

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About Louie Diaz

Louie was born and raised in Santa Clarita. At the age of two Louie lost his vision due to a brain tumor. However, Louie doesn't let blindness stop him from doing what ever it is he wants to accomplish. Growing up some of his favorite hobbies were wood working, fishing and riding bikes. Louie graduated from College of the Canyon in December of 2017, with a Broadcast Journalism degree. Growing up Louie has always wanted to be a fire fighter or a police officer, but because of his blindness Louie knew that wouldn't work. Louie has always loved listening to police and fire radio traffic, using a scanner, and he figured if he was going to listen to the scanner so much, he should do something with it.