“Who is the person you say ‘I love you’ to the least?” Tavon Parker asked a room full of teenagers at The Love Conference event.
Murmurs around the room made it clear that we realized… it’s ourselves.
The Love Conference was held on a snowy Saturday, and had over 40 teens in attendance and the YWCA in Downtown York. They listened to experts in mental health, teen crime, and motivation. There was also provided breakfast, lunch and drinks. The overarching theme: You need to love yourself.
This mental health youth conference included prayer by Pastor Larry Walthour of Shiloh Baptist Church, speakers from Wellspan Health (Robbin Williams), Sister to Sister Therapy (Rev Lenia Queen) and York County Safety Collab (Jamie Noerpel) who shared informative presentations and had conversations with those in attendance. Additionally, Jamie Noerpel led a youth panel discussion, where young adults in their teens and 20’s reflected on dealing with big transitions, feeling comfortable with yourself and peer pressure.
The breakout sessions was another component of this conference aimed to get the kids up and active. The yoga session was hosted by the YWCA, Stick N’Move Boxing hosted training sessions, the Advantage Program hosted workouts, and Beast Mode Initiative had video gaming. Victory the therapy dog and Office Reinert from the York City Police Department were also present.
As a nonprofit, the goal of The Advantage Program is to continue to provide our young people with the resources necessary to combat any problem they come up against, and equip them to know how to navigate these challenges.
