ORLANDO, Fla. -- Identifying students struggling with mental health issues continues to be a top priority for schools, especially following shooting tragedies like Parkland and Santa Fe.
- OCPS implements mental health program
- Students like Kamiya Gwinn have utilized 'the HUB'
- HUB helped Gwinn with mental health struggles
In Florida, there is a program being used at a few schools that is finding great success.
The program is called the Community Partnership Schools, and in the Orange County Public School district, there are two programs at its schools: Evans High School and OCPS Academic Center for Excellence.
“This is not how my life is supposed to be -- I am not that girl. So yeah, it was a lot,” said Kamiya Gwinn, as she reflected on a tough time in her life two years ago.
“I do think the HUB, they most definitely saved my life,” she added.
Gwinn is a senior at Evans High School. She is in a very different place now, compared to 2016 when her mother’s boyfriend sold her into the world of sex trafficking.
“With him, he was like a father figure, but yet he is just selling me for sex … then on top of that, me and my mom weren’t getting along. So I was just going through a rough time, and I had a lot of suicidal thoughts,” Gwinn said.
Those thoughts led to the scars on her arms, when young Kamiya began cutting herself. But those cuts did not go unnoticed.
“I think if Mrs. Vanderpoole never came to me that day … and didn’t see the cuts on my arms, I wouldn’t be here, honestly,” Gwinn said. “I was so ready to end it back then.”
Counselors identified Kamiya as “at risk,” and after more talking, she was Baker Acted.
“I was mad at her at first, because I (was) like, ‘Yo, you ratted me out.’ But then, you know, now that I am sitting here today … I really appreciate you guys so much,” Gwinn said.
She then received counseling outside of school and through the HUB.
“I am still in counseling,” Gwinn said. “Like once a week.”
Her life is very different now.
“She is walking through the hallways singing. Every time I hear someone singing, it is Kamiya. And she just knows everybody at the HUB, and she uses the HUB,” said Sandra Nonez-Mera, a clinical counselor.
Nonez-Mera believes mental health to be a major issue today, one that needs more funding and more staff.
“… sometimes I have many students knocking on my door, and I have to say, ‘well you have to wait, we have to schedule,’” Nonez-Mera said. “Kids are coming, they are asking for help. And they are like, ‘Oh I need a counselor. I have been through this, I need a counselor.’”
Fortunately for Kamiya, the scheduling and counseling came just in time. She is set to graduate in a week with plans to go into the Army.
But even with all the future plans, she promises to stay in touch with the HUB staff for years to come.
“… it’s ok, I will be right here,” Nonez-Mera said.
The man abusing Gwinn is now in jail after the school helped report the abuse.
Community Partnership Schools works with Title I schools, and at Evans they’ve seen drastic improvements in students overall. For example, there have been higher graduation numbers and a significant drop in disciplinary referrals.