Artful Healing: How Colorado’s Queer Youth Network is Crafting Community and Strengthening Mental Wellness, One Creative Journey at a Time
Written by Becca Hyvonen
Jun 20, 2024
“We at CQYN are grateful to The Colorado Health Foundation for their continued support not only of our program’s efforts to connect and empower queer youth in healing and belonging, but the Foundation’s commitment to our community and eagerness to explore all avenues, respond to our needs, and strengthen trust and collaboration between those on the ground and their unique position as funders. We are excited to continue CQYN for another season and deeply appreciate the recent gift from The Colorado Health Foundation.”
– Noah Jansen (he/him/his), Youth Engagement Specialist for the Hub
For teenagers growing up in a society that is grappling with an overwhelming mental health crisis, community is everything. For LGBTQ+ teenagers, especially those living in America’s rural sectors, access to community – and the sense of belonging that comes with it – can often be a matter of life or death.
According to The Trevor Project’s 2023 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ Young People, fewer than 40% of queer youth felt supported in the home over the last year while 41% gave serious consideration to taking their own lives. These statistics construct a vivid portrait of a mental health culture rapidly unraveling at the edges, leaving its LGBTQ+ young people directionless and isolated in the margins. Yet despite these staggering numbers, the Colorado School of Public Health’s Center for Public Health Practice is driving change and facilitating hope, fueled by the life-changing power of philanthropy.
Recognizing a critical gap in the mental health resources available to queer youth in rural areas across the state, the Center for Public Health Practice and the Hub for Justice-Centered Youth Engagement, an initiative housed within the Center, dreamed up a unique program aimed at addressing these unmet needs. Aided by a generous gift from The Colorado Health Foundation to further reach and support LGBTQ+ teens and young adults, Colorado’s Queer Youth Network (CQYN, pronounced “sequin”) was established in 2021.
Designed as a virtual meeting space, CQYN fosters healing and inclusivity for queer youth whose geographical location renders them without access to crucial mental wellness assistance or a tethering anchor to the LGBTQ+ community.
CQYN is a haven for rural queer teens ages 12-22. The bi-weekly digital gatherings offer a safe place to grow together in community through discussions on queer joy, shared experiences and solutions for societal change. For many participants it is a lifeline, an invaluable opportunity to cultivate hope, restoration and a path forward – together – in the face of school-place bullying, tenuous home life and anti-LGBTQ+ policies.
“We meet to organize and co-create vision through collective action to affirm and uplift the identities of queer youth,” said Jansen. “We produce more inclusive spaces and explore the intersections between race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, zip code and more."
Strengthening Queer Joy through the Power of Art
As art is a remarkable force for unification and empowering the voiceless, CQYN utilizes a variety of effective arts-based methods as the basis for their work. Now, they are expanding these practices for further impact through the implementation of Creative Journey, a youth participatory action research (YPAR) program that provides group level therapeutic mental health aid through art.
“Last summer, CQYN staff traveled to rural Pride events in Colorado to make connections by bringing our art programming to the community,” Jansen said. “We will do so again this year to engage with community members, collect their stories and recruit for upcoming programming.”
When engaged in a Creative Journey, queer youth are invited to take part in activities that provide space for introspection, reflection and self-expression. Participants are given a per-session stipend and all supplies, free of cost. One such project explored critical questions around the queer experience, delving deep into what queer joy really means on an individual basis, what barriers stand in the way of queer joy and the importance of youth having a voice. The result of these Six-Word Stories was a mosaic of rural Colorado queer youth experiences, a quilted celebration of shared identity and belonging.
Now, with further philanthropic support from the Caring for Denver Foundation, CQYN is preparing to collaborate with key partner organizations to bring the Creative Journey program to LGBTQ+ young people in the Denver area. As the initiative continues to expand, the collective power of art will continue to unite queer youth across Colorado, producing a ripple effect of hope, healing and increased mental wellness throughout the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. By providing safe spaces for affirmation and connection, CQYN is creating invaluable hope for the future.
For further inquiries about Colorado's Queer Youth Network, please contact Noah Jansen at noah.jansen@cuanschutz.edu.