Teens Take on Mental Health

This past spring, a group of KKV youth got the opportunity to travel to Portland, Oregon to learn about mental health amongst teens and how they can support their peers. This was thanks to the Lines for Life organization in Portland, who have grown a relationship with KKV over the past year. “Mental health is not something that is easy to talk about,” said Youth Services Coordinator Rona Mangayayam. “But this opportunity helped our youth gain awareness and advocate for the issue.”  

Lines for Life is a nonprofit organization in Portland that provides support for communities through mental health and substance abuse prevention programs and crisis support services. One of the unique services is a youth-run phone line where teens can offer mental health support to other teens.  

In April of 2024, Lines for Life reached out to KKV after coming across our Pilinahā framework. “They were very interested in Hoʻoulu ʻĀina and our approach to health and healing,” said Rona. Some of their staff eventually came for a visit to Hoʻoulu ʻĀina and KVIBE. Over the year, Rona kept in touch with their staff via email and the relationship continued to grow. “We were interested in getting some mental health training for our youth,” explained Rona. She recalls how Lines for Life worked with KKV to tailor their training curriculum to be more culturally appropriate and include the Pilinahā framework. “We were amazed how open they were to find what would best fit our youth.”  

During spring break of March 2025, Rona’s dream became reality when a group of eight youth and two staff members made the trip to Portland. The goal of the trip was to build the youth’s capacity surrounding mental health and learn how they can support their peers going through tough times. The training sessions typically ran from 11am to 7pm, and many of the activities were conversational. “I was so surprised to see our youth open up to people they had just met and be vulnerable,” said Rona. “They talked about heavy topics, like loss and grieving.” One of the facilitators was from Guam, which helped the youth to connect on a cultural level. Lines for Life understood that in many Polynesian cultures, there is still a stigma surrounding mental health. But Rona says they worked to implement topics and scenarios where the youth felt safe to share.  

The group also had fun on this trip! Some of the youth experienced being in cold weather for the first time. They all also attended their first NBA game when they went to watch the Portland Trailblazers. The group also got to walk on the court, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the youth. They also went shopping and visited museums. Getting to travel outside of Hawaii was a highlight of the trip. “It allowed them to see a different place other than home. There's a big world out there and I want them to be able to explore that,” said Rona.

Rona says she and Lines for Life couldn’t be happier with how the training turned out. She hopes to take another cohort to Portland in the future. “Opportunities like this are eye-opening for our youth.” Youth services is dedicated to advancing their knowledge on the topic and advocating for those who are suffering. KKV would like to say a big mahalo to Lines for Life, the Kenneth and Diane Matsuura Foundation, and Representative Kim Coco Iwamoto for their support on this trip.