In Ohio, 1-in-3 students have reported challenges with anxiety, according to the Department of Education and Workforce.

18-year-old Olive Weaver is a senior at Mason High School. Most days for her involve juggling homework, after-school activities, and finding time for a little R&R.

“A youth, young person, high schooler, or maybe even middle or elementary schooler today honestly goes through a lot that adults don’t always recognize,” Weaver said.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI), 113,000 Ohioans ages 12-17 have depression or some other mental health concern.

“I’ve seen the need for more support for youth mental health as a whole, whether that be in myself, my friends, and a lot of the other close people in my life.”

Olive is a student fellow for Hopeful Empowered Youth -Greater Cincinnati or HEY! It’s a coalition made up of hundreds of stakeholders from health care providers to community organizations with a common goal of improving youth mental health in the region.

“It’s been great just meeting and interacting with all the adults who really want to listen, hear, and value youth stories. They just haven’t had a way to do that before.”

The nonprofit recently hosted a school workgroup meeting. Schools are one of the focus areas of their 10-year strategy to combat the youth mental health crisis in Greater Cincinnati.