BDIPS addresses whole health at Northpointe afterschool program

Tucked inside the Northpointe Apartments is an afterschool program administered by Better Days Integrated Programs (BDIPS) and funded in partnership by Avanath Capital Management LLC and COR CDC, a nonprofit organization based in Irvine, CA.

Northpointe’s after school program started as just that — a place for kids, ranging from ages 5 to 14, in the community to come in, complete homework and participate in enrichment activities. However, when BDIPS began administering the program, BDIPS CEO Darryl Sewell believed it was important to incorporate some mental health components.

After doing a walkthrough in the community, some needs became apparent to the team at BDIPS such as a need for senior wellness checks, food giveaways and access to wellness resources.

“Whole health is important. You can't work on mental health without making sure that all the basic needs are met,” Sewell explained. “You can't expect someone who's hungry to be effective in a therapy session. A lot of the behaviors that we're seeing in the afterschool program are based upon hunger and lacking other needs.”

Northpointe is located in North Long Beach and is situated in an area of the city with a population that is 47% Black and 32% Hispanic, with a median household income of $46,339, according to data from the American Community Survey. The median household income is half the amount of the entire city of Long Beach.

While BDIPS and COR have made it a priority to address community needs such as food insecurity and access to resources like workforce development, one of the unique aspects of Northpointe’s afterschool program is therapy. Hosted on site, the afterschool program offers therapeutic boxing sessions that are administered by trained coaches who teach kids how to address their anger and feelings using a healthy outlet.

“I do everything that's physical enrichment at Northpointe,” said Renato Cabagna, who works as a staff member and boxing coach in the afterschool program. “We do boxing, jump rope, ladder drills — a bunch of different physical games that are aided at helping the kids express movement and their anger and their fire, in a way.”

Therapeutic boxing is a form of therapeutic fitness that combines physical activity with mental health interventions such as mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral strategies to promote well-being. Over time, therapeutic boxing can reduce anxiety, depression and stress while improving an individual's mood and self-esteem.

“I think the biggest thing for me is to teach the youth how to allow themselves to be angry without suppressing the anger, but expressing it in a healthy manner that is not destructive nor inappropriate towards other people's boundaries,” Cabagna said.

In addition to therapeutic boxing, kids who participate in the afterschool program also have access to traditional therapy with trained therapists such as Toni Love, the lead therapist in the afterschool program at Northpointe.

Love provides individual therapy and also facilitates age-appropriate, creative therapy groups. These groups focus on emotional awareness, healthy ways to communicate, social skills, and setting boundaries.

“By offering developmentally appropriate psychoeducation, social-emotional learning and creative outlets for expression like therapeutic boxing, art, and mindfulness practices, we’re helping the kids in our community understand the connection between their mind and body,” Love said. 

Among communities of color, a gap in access to mental health resources still remains as a result of affordability, stigma and other socio-economic factors. 

Sewell explained that one of the biggest barriers they face at Northpointe is the stigma that lives in the homes of people of color.

“It’s ‘what happens in the home, stays in the home,’ and they’re not willing to share. Our biggest barrier is overcoming the stigma that comes along with it,” Sewell said. “Because a lot of people think, ‘if my kid receives services, they'll say something to where DCFS or someone will come in and take my kids away,’ or you're going to find out that they have domestic violence in the home.”

In delivering services and administering programs to the community at Northpointe, Sewell and his team have worked relentlessly to engage the community and get buy-in from senior residents. Residents have previously felt betrayed by other organizations who have come in and made false promises. In order to gain the community’s trust, BDIPS has hosted several community-based events such as barbecues, movie nights and paint activities.

“BDIPS is helping close that gap by bringing trauma-informed, accessible care directly into the community. Services are flexible and adaptable, including both in-person and virtual options, which helps meet families where they are,” Love explained. “We also provide psycho-education and resources not just for the children, but for their caregivers as well.”

In alignment with BDIPS’s mission of addressing whole health, Cabagna also oversees lunch at the program. Kids who participate in the program have access to snacks and lunches on program days. Snacks consist of fruit, chips and crackers while lunch can be pasta, sandwiches and sometimes, pizza.

“I think we’re in a timeline where children more than ever need a form of stability and anchoring in an adult. It’s a very rewarding job, and challenging. It challenges your patience more than anything else, but it's very rewarding as well,” Cabagna said.

As the Program Manager of Enrichment Services, Jenean Thomas is tasked with managing the site and developing the curriculum which includes lessons that focus on science, technology, and math, among other subjects. Kids in the program have access to a computer lab and library room, as well as the gym with a boxing ring and punching bags.

While Northpointe is an afterschool program designed for kids, the program also recognizes a need for a community space among adults as well. Northpointe hosts monthly adult activities such as themed events, game nights and Plant & Sips nights.

In May, Northpointe will begin hosting weekly Yoga sessions each Friday, geared for those ages 16 and up.

“Involving the parents is probably also our easiest access to expand to the bigger part of the community. So, people who we aren't reaching that aren’t involved in the afterschool program, hopefully the parents are going to reach out to their friends and family,” Thomas said. “A lot of them have enough family members in the community, so I’m hoping that outreach gets beyond just the parents so that we can bring awareness to our program.”

Engagement with parents at Northpointe is another barrier program staff have recognized, and are working to overcome through more community engagement activities.

“We would love to bridge the gap with adults, because that would first of all, reinforce the concept of community. Then, second, once you know the adults more, you can get a better insight on why the community works this way,” Cabagna said.

BDIPS has been administering programs and services at Northpointe for roughly two years, and has plans to expand their programs at the site to continue to close the gap in access and to address the community’s whole health needs.