February 27, 2026

ISSUE 12

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

Inside NCVA: Intern Perspectives

This edition of our quarterly newsletter was created by our Communication and Outreach Interns, Aston Carreras and Princess Shembo! Over the past few weeks, they’ve connected with leaders from every department across our organization—asking thoughtful questions, gathering insights, and transforming those conversations into stories that highlight the heart of our work and the future of NCVA. Through their words, you’ll gain a fresh perspective on the people, purpose, and passion moving our mission forward.

Communication & Outreach Coordinator

Amplifying Lived Experience

Looking Ahead: The Future of NCVA

When asked where she sees North Carolina Voices Amplified in the next three to five years, Lynch described a future centered on growth and expansion.
“In the next three to five years, I see NCVA continuing to amplify youth and family voice,” she explained. A key focus will be expanding the youth and family peer support workforce and further elevating lived experience as a form of expertise within North Carolina’s behavioral health system. Lynch also anticipates that NCVA’s influence may extend beyond state lines. She sees the organization potentially supporting other states in developing infrastructure around youth and family peer support programs, positioning North Carolina as a leader in this emerging field.

Valuing Lived Experience

Beyond organizational growth, Lynch emphasized the broader systemic changes she hopes to see. One of her primary goals is for lived experience to be recognized as equally valuable as formal education and traditional work experience.

“In the broader system, I hope that lived experience becomes just as highly regarded and valuable as education and work experience to employers, education systems, and the behavioral health system,” she said.
Lynch acknowledged that peer support is still a relatively unknown career pathway. Despite its limitless possibilities, many people are unaware that sharing personal experiences and using their voice can lead to a meaningful and sustainable career.

“Using your voice and sharing your story is literally a way to build a career and a life,” she noted. “It’s something that I’ve done.”

Her perspective challenges traditional ideas about qualifications and expertise, urging institutions to reconsider how they define professional value.

The Role of Interns

Interns also play a critical role in NCVA’s mission. According to Lynch, they bring unique perspectives that enrich the organization’s work. “I feel like interns can make a meaningful impact by bringing their lived experience, background, and worldview,” she explained.

As a Communication and Outreach Coordinator, Lynch helps shape that impact by guiding interns through a semester-long learning experience. This process not only informs her work with NCVA but also provides students with firsthand exposure to nonprofit communications and advocacy.

Through mentorship and collaboration, interns gain practical skills while contributing to the organization’s broader mission of amplifying youth and family voices.

A Growing Movement

Kara Lynch’s vision reflects a larger cultural shift within behavioral health systems one that values authenticity, storytelling, and lived experience as legitimate forms of expertise. As NCVA continues to grow, its emphasis on youth and family voice and peer support may help redefine what leadership and professionalism look like in the years ahead. In elevating lived experience, Lynch and NCVA are not just building careers they are building a movement.

Where can I find a Peer Support Professional?

Associate Director of Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development

More Than Data Points

The Second Quarter

This quarter, success looked like wrapping up the development of a best practice guide for the system of care collaborative. Led by Chandrika and assisted by Sherrell, NCVA conducted interviews with collaborative meeting attendees. “One of the challenges with the system of care collaborative meetings are [that] there’s not enough youth or family voice attending,” she said. “We wanted to created a tool or instrument that kind of gives the best practices to increase that youth and family participation.”

Painting By The Numbers

Evaluation isn’t just about numbers, Sherrell combines both numbers and narratives to paint a fuller picture of the impact NCVA is having. Having this fuller picture also allows for more healthy family outcomes by ensuring that the good work continues. “It’s this feedback loop where their voices are heard, and the program continues to improve overall and everybody’s happy.” Sherrell is currently working to get grants that would allow NCVA to create a more integrative program to further improve effectiveness. Sherrell emphasizes the importance of co-creation with families and youth. “These outcomes are for you,” she said. “These are the outcomes that you wanted to see because these are the services that you needed.”

Sherrell is excited to see the NCVA team expand in the next quarter and further. This influx of new staff would help NCVA collect more data and reach more families in need of peer support.

What reach do our trainings have?

Family Training Coordinator

Empowering Families Through Training

Building Stronger Family Peer Leaders

Maddox serves as one of two Family Training Coordinators at NCVA. In this role, she provides training and technical assistance to family peers throughout North Carolina. Family peers are individuals with lived experience who support other families navigating behavioral health services.

“We provide training and technical assistance for family peers across North Carolina,” Maddox explained. “We coordinate and facilitate trainings to help family peers meet the educational requirements they need to become certified.”

Her work includes organizing training sessions, coordinating facilitators, and developing new materials. Currently, she is working on transforming a five-day Family Partner training into a digital workbook. The goal is to give family peers ongoing access to resources, interactive exercises, practice testing, and role-play scenarios.

“The day-to-day could look like a training class,” she said. “Even if we’re not facilitating it ourselves, we coordinate other people who are.”

Letting Families Lead the Conversation

When determining which topics families need most, Maddox emphasized a simple but powerful approach: listening.

“We ask them,” she said.

After each training, participants complete evaluations that measure how helpful the session was and suggest topics for future trainings. NCVA also aligns its offerings with national certification requirements to ensure family peers receive the specific hours and content needed to become certified.

By combining participant feedback with certification standards, NCVA ensures that its trainings remain both relevant and practical.

From Trainee to Trainer

Maddox’s perspective is deeply personal. Before becoming a coordinator, she worked as a Family Support Partner for another agency. In that role, she provided resources and guidance to families skills she gained directly from the trainings she now helps organize.

“I’m proof that training has empowered a family,” she said.

She explained that the knowledge gained from training helped her confidently support other families and eventually grow into her current leadership position. The trainings not only provide information but also teach family peers how to communicate effectively what to say, what not to say, and how to respect the unique experiences of each family.

“You may have had one experience, but another family might see it completely differently,” Maddox noted. Training prepares peers to approach each situation with empathy and awareness.

Overcoming Barriers to Participation

Maddox acknowledged that families sometimes face barriers to participating in trainings. These barriers can include time constraints, work schedules, childcare responsibilities, transportation challenges, or simply not knowing the opportunity exists.

To reduce these barriers, NCVA works to offer flexible options such as virtual trainings, accessible materials, and coordinated support. By creating inclusive learning environments and offering resources in multiple formats, the organization helps ensure families can engage regardless of their circumstances.

Creating Lasting Impact

Through her work, Kimberly Maddox helps transform lived experience into professional expertise. By equipping family peers with training, knowledge, and confidence, she strengthens not only individual families but the broader behavioral health system in North Carolina.

Her journey from family peer to training coordinator demonstrates the power of education, mentorship, and voice. At its core, her work reflects a simple but meaningful mission: when families are empowered, communities grow stronger.

How many people have we we trained?

Youth Training Coordinator

Nurturing The Next Generation

Expanding Nationwide

This quarter there has been notable growth in the youth support department, statewide as well as on the national scale. Kyle will be travelling to various sites around the country with the express purpose of showing what exactly it is that we do here at NCVA. Having spoken at events in collaboration with organizations like Say So, an advocacy organization centered around children in and out of the foster care system. “We’re really excited to see the growth of the work, he said. More and more organizations are hiring youth support partners, recognizing the need for such work."

Learning from Experience

Kyle came to recognize the need for youth support through his own life experiences. “I was a young person with mental and behavioral challenges,” Kyle said. These experiences make the mission personal. Kyle has been working with advocacy groups on behalf of youth like himself for over a decade. “Because I have that lived experience learning how to advocate for myself, a lot of the training that we develop is based on these experiences.” He highlights the importance of giving youth a seat at the table to have their voice heard and to be empowered. This is in contrast with traditional methods of youth support, where young people often feel disconnected from choices made concerning their lives. “There’s this misconception that young people are just kind of disassociated. But, I think in reality they’re actually trying to learn more about how we can improve the state of the world so that young people don’t have to go through those similar challenges.”

Fostering Connections through Quarter 2 NCVA Trainings

Collaboration Coordinator

Leading With Lived Experience

A Role Rooted in Personal Experience

Brown described her position as a lived experience role, meaning her expertise comes directly from being a caregiver of a child with social, emotional, mental health, or intellectual and developmental IDD diagnoses.
"I am a nationally certified family partner, Brown explained. That means I am a caregiver of a child or children who has some type of social, emotional, mental, or IDD diagnosis."

Unlike traditional clinical roles, Brown’s work is grounded in firsthand understanding. She knows what it feels like to navigate systems, advocate for services, and support a child with complex needs because she has lived it herself.

Supporting Families Across North Carolina

In her current position, Brown continues to work directly with families while also contributing to broader system support. As a family partner, she offers guidance, resources, and encouragement to caregivers who may feel overwhelmed or unsure where to begin.
Her role involves helping families understand available services, advocating for appropriate support, and walking alongside them as they navigate challenges. Because she shares similar lived experiences, families often feel more comfortable opening up and trusting her guidance.
This peer based approach builds connection and credibility in ways that traditional service models sometimes cannot.

The Power of Peer Support

Brown’s certification as a family partner reflects the growing recognition that lived experience is a valuable and necessary form of expertise. Peer support roles like hers help bridge gaps between families and formal systems.

By combining professional training with personal insight, Brown embodies the mission of NCVA amplifying family voices and strengthening the behavioral health system through authentic advocacy.

Her work highlights a powerful truth. Sometimes the most meaningful support comes from someone who has truly been there.

Program Manager

Understanding the Totality of Need

What is Family Support?

To Willow, family support comes down to a sense that there is someone out there who can understand you. Someone who understands how to navigate all the systems and can support you through it. This is why she employs a listening to understand technique, to meet people where they are. It’s about addressing the totality of the need. Success for a family after receiving family peer support may look like development of advocacy skills or action plans that guarantee success in multiple aspects of a family’s life.

More Hands On Deck

Success for Willow this past quarter meant expanding the family peer support sphere. “We really try to work on multiple levels. One of the things that we do a lot of work on is just awareness.” This past quarter Willow has worked hard building connections with other organizations in the state with similar objectives. Along with these networking endeavors, Willow is also looking to expand the NCVA, ideally to double the staff numbers. This would be advantageous for the organization because a bigger team means that more meaningful work can be done, which is paramount. “It’ll let us develop more trainings,” Willow said, “We’ll have more staff across North Carolina who will be able to support local communities better.” Having secured funding for expansion efforts, NCVA is actively looking to create and fill new positions.

SCAN THE QR CODE ABOVE TO LEARN MORE!

November 14, 2025

ISSUE 11

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

The Amplified Voice: Intern Edition

This special edition of our quarterly newsletter was created entirely by our Communication and Outreach Interns, Jordan Dumornay and Eli Berry! Over the past few weeks, they’ve connected with leaders from every department across our organization—asking thoughtful questions, gathering insights, and transforming those conversations into stories that highlight the heart of our work. Through their words, you’ll get a fresh perspective on the people, purpose, and passion driving our mission forward.

What reach do our trainings have?

Reaping the Benefits of Quarter 1 NCVA Trainings

How many people have we we trained?

Where can I find a Peer Support Professional?

and 24 Youth Peer Support professionals in 19 counties

Family Training Coordinator

Supporting Families, Strengthening Futures

Her days look different almost every day—sometimes she’s bringing authentic family peer voices to local, state, and national conversations about children’s mental health. Other days, she’s assessing and providing training for new family peers or helping agencies implement the family peer role. “The most rewarding aspect of my role is providing confidential space and a sounding board for family peers when they are looking for resolutions to difficult challenges they’re having,” she said.

Fred highlights some big wins from this past quarter: “We provided technical assistance to 20 family peers for their certification and recertification, expanded training partnerships to include IDD and first-episode psychosis populations, and recently included a trauma-informed supervision training for youth and peer support.” She also points to a huge step in policy: “We have been part of the conversation around a family peer Medicaid definition. Being able to give voice to the needs of that role and that Medicaid is listening to the expertise of those of us in the field is extremely important.”

She brings her own lived experience into every part of her work. “The reason they were hired is because they have experience. They still may have a lot of support that they may need to provide to their children. They need a family peer that they can also connect with, to give them support and encourage self-care,” she explains. Fred also helps family peers navigate tricky situations in agencies. “I provide that kind of atmosphere for family peers, brainstorming solutions, doing scenarios, and coming up with non-traditional ways of approaching resolutions to issues,” she stated.

Fred draws hope and inspiration from the families she works with. “The hope comes from the resiliency of the families. They continue to look to the next day, deal with circumstances, and look for hope the next day. We now are seen as part of the solution,” said Fred.

And she wants readers to really get why training and supporting family peers matters: “Our greatest success comes when children, youth, and families’ voices, courage, and resiliency are valued and celebrated.”

Through her guidance, support, and advocacy, Fred makes sure family peers are ready and empowered to make a real difference in the lives of families across North Carolina.

Communication & Outreach Coordinator

Amplifying Voices, Building Connections

For Kara, the most rewarding part of her work is seeing that impact click for the people she serves. “I love explaining what we do and hearing people say, ‘I know someone who could benefit from your training program,’” she says. Reflecting on the first quarter, one of her favorite moments was “interviewing and hiring our communications interns for this semester. Just seeing their interest and excitement of learning about what nonprofit communications looks like behind the scenes was refreshing,” said Kara.

Storytelling is central to Kara’s approach. She believes that stories are often the difference between someone simply hearing about NC Voices Amplified’s work and truly seeing themselves or others benefiting from it. “Storytelling is the cornerstone of our program. Effective storytelling is often the difference between someone hearing about what we do and immediately being able to see themselves or someone else benefiting from our training. If I know a story has the potential to give someone else the opportunity to see themselves, I try my best to highlight that story,” she explains.

Ultimately, Kara’s work is deeply voice-centered. “NC Voices NCVA’s work is voice-centered and deeply personal. We are only as successful as the voices we amplify,” she says, reflecting the organization’s commitment to empowering youth and families across North Carolina.

Collaboration Coordinator

Turning Lived Experience Into Lasting Change

Youth Training Coordinator

Building Pathways for Youth Voice to Lead

Associate Director of Research, Evaluation, and Grant Development

Numbers With Meaning: Tracking Our Impact

Since joining NC Voices Amplified, Sherrell has focused on bridging research, evaluation, and community impact. “I was excited to come in, evaluate these amazing programs that we already have, and look at the effectiveness so that we can continue these programs—but also write grants to create new programs for youth and families in the community,” she explains. Her background as a faculty member in child development and family studies gives her a unique perspective, allowing her to bring research-driven insight to practical evaluation.

A central focus of Sherrell’s approach is combining data with community voices. “Include the numbers, like this is what we found,but I always pull in the quotes. It connects really, really greatly with those numbers and helps to tell the whole story,” she said. She emphasized that qualitative feedback from youth and family partners is just as important as quantitative results. “It’s the numbers plus the narrative—the first-hand experiences—that tell the full story,” she added.

For Sherrell, the most rewarding part of her work is seeing how these programs create real impact. “It’s exciting to watch programs I evaluate make a difference in communities, even if we’re not working directly with families. We are indirectly impacting families by working with the folks who will be working with them,” she explains. By evaluating trainings for family and youth partners, she ensures that participants are empowered to support families effectively.

Reflecting on the NC Voices Amplified team, Sherrell highlights the passion that drives their work. “NC Voices Amplified has a staff full of folks that are passionate about the work that they do and passionate about healthy developmental outcomes for youth and families. We all come from different walks of life, we all have different roles, but it’s all for one common goal,” she said.

Sherrell’s work demonstrates that evaluation is not just about numbers—it’s about connecting research, community voice, and program development to create meaningful, lasting change for youth and families across North Carolina.

Program Manager

Listening Deeply and Leading With Lived Experience

AUGUST 15, 2025

ISSUE 10

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER

From Reflection to Reach: Building on Success

Best Practices at NC SOC Meetings

In addition, we are in the process of collecting interview data to explore the best practices by local SOC collaboratives that help to increase meaningful youth/family participation in local and statewide collaboratives. This data will be used to develop a best practice guide. Here are two examples of best practices suggested to increase SOC Collaborative engagement from youth members attending SOC collaboratives.

Behavioral Health System Needs Assessment

Example 1

“I think all behavioral health care could use some improvement. They could even learn from HFW programs. Especially exercising family voice and choice. As well as understanding that there is absolutely no cookie cutter way to provide services.”

Example 2

“The system of care when it comes to group homes and intensive in home. I feel like intensive does not truly get to the core and the upper levels of systems of care is based on medicating the child and not truly allowing a child to be looked at as individual.”

A larger needs assessment is scheduled to be conducted by the NCVA team during the Fall. More to come soon!

What reach do our trainings have?

Training Our Way to Transformation

**New Trainings offered by NCVA in Quarter 3.

How many people have we we trained?

Where can I find a Peer Support Professional?

and 24 Youth Peer Support professionals in 19 counties

Family Training Coordinator

Back to School Success: A Matter of the Heart

Well, summer break is almost over, and our children are facing a time of transition. This can be a time of both excitement and anxiety. There is a lot of excitement to shop for new school clothes and supplies, meet new teachers, and maybe attend a new school. But for many, it can be a time of anxiety, especially if there were challenges in the previous school year. As a parent of a
child who has mental health challenges, I remember the anxiety I would get when I would hear those three little words: “Back to School”. My mind would reflect on the
previous year’s experiences and think about what things need to remain the same and what additional strategies should be documented in this year’s plan.
What I have learned over the years to ease the transition back to school and to support my child’s good mental health is not to be so hard on myself. Take a step
back and acknowledge all the successes that were achieved last year. Yes, I know it can sometimes appear that these successes are few and far between, but I
promise if you look closely, you will find them for both you, your child, and your family. I have learned that even though I need to prepare for the upcoming year, I
should also live in the moment and rely on the knowledge I have gained and the support and services I have identified that have been helpful. It’s important to
walk into the new year not as “Super Mom” but as my child’s greatest supporter and advocate. These are just a few tips that I believe will be beneficial to know in
the approaching new school year:

• Start gradually shifting to a school-day sleep schedule a few weeks before school starts, beginning the transition from the flexibility sleep schedule for summer into the more structured sleep habits for school nights.

• Create and organize a designated study area that is organized and free from clutter to reduce distractions and maximize their ability to focus.

• Educate yourself on healthy eating habits and balanced diets, which provide essential nutrients and vitamins to support brain health and energy levels.

• Engage in regular physical activity, such as sports, dancing, or walking, to release and manage stress. These can be activities that you and your child do together.

• Get plenty of rest!

• Reduce screen time on social media, especially before bed, to improve sleep quality and reduce potential anxiety.

• Encourage interactions with classmates and friends, when possible, to renew old friendships and build new ones.

• Continue to attend school events and be in communication with your child’s teachers to build a strong collaborative support system.

• Make sure your child knows that they can share their experiences at school with you, whether good or bad.

• Help children recognize what triggers their anxiety and develop healthy strategies to overcome them.

• Speak up if you think your child is exhibiting behaviors that you believe need additional services or supports.

• Make sure you and your child take the time to celebrate when you accomplish something important to you!

• Ask about Family Peer Specialist programs to provide support in navigating systems.

Communication & Outreach Coordinator

September 8-9, 2025

10 AM – 4 PM

Out Reaching

About three years ago, when I began in this role, I had no idea about the amount of work it would take to raise awareness about something so great and necessary. Coming from a youth peer support role I just knew in no time, everyone would know about the great work being done for the youth and families of this great state. Excited, nervous and uncertain of how it would all work out, I began what has been the journey of a lifetime.

From learning how to post engaging social media content to speaking with countless individuals across the state at conferences and outreach events, I’ve seen the questions about what we do transform into excitement about what’s coming next in our programming. The question is no longer what do you all do? The question is now what new trainings are you rolling out next and how can I be a part of what you’re doing? Watching this shift has been incredibly humbling to watch.

I’m proud of our growth and the work we’ve done to raise awareness through every process we’ve created. Outreach goes far beyond how many clicks, likes and shares resulted by our efforts. In retrospect, I can see how every post, every email, and every conversation is a part of a larger picture that cannot be quantified only in data, but in the stories we exchange, the reach we gain and the lives that will ultimately be changed because of what we do.

Collaboration Coordinator

Closing the Gaps That Hold Students Back

Youth Training Coordinator

Success With Training Youth

We had our first ever graduating class of Speakers Bureau Youth Advocates- and we were thrilled with all the progress and commitment to advocacy they brought to every session. We are so excited to see all the amazing work they will do in the future!

We represented North Carolina and the work that we are doing with Youth Peer Support at the Training Institutes hosted by UCONN at the National Harbor outside of DC. We are extremely excited to see all the amazing work that is done across the country and were thrilled to be invited to present on Youth Voice withing community and residential settings. We presented a youth leadership training to a local youth group in Alamance County. The young adults we trained are excited to start advocating for themselves and their peers within their community through a photo voice project.

As we are coming into the fall semester, we are excited to host another Youth Peer Support Training, as well as a Youth Engagement training for anyone wanting to engage youth. We also can’t wait until we offer our next Speakers Bureau cohort in the fall!

As we continue to train youth on self-advocacy and peer support and connect with organizations that support youth across the state and the country, we are so excited to see young people getting the support they need and advocating in amazing ways!

Program Manager

What’s Next for NCVA?