BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — On this week’s Mom to Mom, Local 10’s Nicole Perez sat down with the leaders of a program taking a unique, hands-on approach to mental wellness.
Dreamcatchers is a holistic, wellness organization for children.
The organization has been serving the South Florida community since 2012.
Pamella “Pema” Reid is the Executive Director and Founder of Dreamcatchers for the Soul. She says it helps youth and teens in Broward, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties navigate anxiety, stress and social pressure. All using hands on experiences.
“We do that through the mindfulness, the yoga, the tai-chi, the jigara, the reiki, the conflict resolution even at an early age,” said Reid.
During the eight-week-long program, the students receive six weeks of yoga, tai chi and eight weeks of conflict resolution.
“We come in first and we create a circle, and we check in, like how are you doing today? You know, like really check it, we create a safe space where our children would want to tell us what’s going on,” said Reid.
Reid said that sometimes, teenagers come into the space with anger and need help learning how to communicate.
“Whatever they see on social media, they believe that to be true,” said Reid.
In an effort to break through to these young teens, Reid says the program’s goal is to reach them at their core.
“We’re so concerned with the external. We want them to play football, basketball, do good in school, but nobody takes care of them from the inside. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re teaching our children from the inside out rather than from the outside in,” said Reid.
Nicole spoke to two teens who said the program has changed their lives. 18-year-old Jennifer Desinoid and 17-year-old Jacobi Sapp said they felt tremendous growth after taking the eight-week course.
“It was really, really a new experience for me,” said Desinoid.
“I needed to learn how to express myself in a better healthier way,” said Sapp.
Desinoid and Sapp showed Nicole the breathing exercises they learned. They said doing the exercises was comforting and helped calm them when they were feeling stressed and/or nervous.
The two agreed that social media is the biggest source of their stress.
They learned to sit with themselves and to stay in their own lane. They believe social media is not always accurate and again, they said they use their breathing techniques when their stress peaks because of social media.
Senior Park Manager for Broward County Parks and Recreation, Valeria Wolvrg, is in charge of many programs, but she says Dreamcatchers provides teens with new experiences and unconventional ways of learning how to express themselves in a positive way.
“We try to create a place of belonging where they know they can come back. I truly believe we can help one kid at a time, one family at a time and we can do better,” said Wolvrg.
Dreamcatchers will hold its 12th Annual Children of the Lotus Retreat in August. It’s a free holistic retreat for children ages 5-18 and their parents to explore mindfulness, self-expression and emotional well-being.
The event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Miramar Multi-Service Complex at 6700 Miramar Pkwy.
Attendees are asked to register for the event in advance by clicking on this link.
For more information about Dreamcatchers, click on this link.
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