“At the root of this dilemma is the way we view mental health in this country. Whether an illness affects your heart, your leg or your brain, it’s still an illness, and there should be no distinction”
- Michelle Obama
Mental health has always been an issue and the COVID 19 pandemic shined an even brighter spotlight on the subject. According to Mental Health America, 11.5% of youth (2.7 M) are experiencing severe depression. The CDC’s Adolescent Behaviors and Experience Survey found that 67% of U.S. high school students reported that schoolwork was more difficult, 55% experienced emotional abuse in the home, and 11% physical abuse during the pandemic.
Milotso recognized the need to help our youth, took action, and built a platform that can make a lifelong difference for numerous individuals. We are dedicated to inspiring and enhancing the skills of young people by providing mentorship, creating opportunities, instilling confidence, and helping mentees develop skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through mentorship programs, Milotso is focused on fostering good habits that result in academic success where youth can aspire to reach higher educational goals and become future leaders in their communities. We help build beneficial life skills in our mentees while emphasizing the importance of mental health and physical wellness.
Simply put, we’re creating a positive change in our community by offering new opportunities for athletes and kids to connect and achieve more together, through our service platform that connects collegiate and professional athletes with kids in their community. We acknowledge that mental health not only affects the mentees that we aim to serve, but our athlete mentors as well. Through involvement with our various community partners, our hope is that our mentors can help end the stigma that surrounds mental health and instill strength in our youth to seek help, without the fear of being treated or viewed as weak. As a result, our mentors feel good about the meaningful work they are doing and gain new perspectives on life that give them strength to battle through the daily challenges of athletics.
We are thrilled to partner with the Wisconsin chapter of Mental Health of America (MHA) in this journey since their mission is dedicated to improving the mental health of all individuals through advocacy, education, and service. MHA-Wisconsin bestowed Milotso with the Mental Health Champion award in December of 2023. It is an honor to be recognized by our peers for our efforts in trying to bridge the gap of mental health awareness among our youth through the Milotso platform. Our plan for 2024, is to continue our mentorship programs to deliver support, encouragement, build confidence, and help create opportunities for youth. Milotso is in the process of making an impact on the community that will catalyze positive change, as well as create access to information to support the mental health and well being for our athlete mentors and their mentees.
Let’s talk about how we can help you make a meaningful impact where it matters most. Use the form below to let us know you’d like to connect with our program director and start the conversation.
