25 Weeks of Gratitude: Raelynn Cook finds purpose through connection

Sarah Lehr

Some young people spend their summers checking off volunteer hours. Raelynn Cook spent hers discovering a calling.

Raelynn, a 17-year-old senior at Arkansas Connections Academy in Bentonville, joined Arkansas Crisis Center’s new AR Teen Connect program because she wanted her community service hours to mean something. Arkansas high school students are required to have 75 hours to graduate, but Raelynn was not interested in volunteering just to meet a requirement. She wanted to serve in a way that connected with something she deeply cared about.

For Raelynn, that something was mental health.

“I’ve had my own experiences with mental health and the shortcomings of the system,” she said. “I just really wanted something that I was passionate about. I didn’t want to do community service just to do community service.”

That search led her to AR Teen Connect, a peer support text line created by the Arkansas Crisis Center with support from the Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas. The program, which goes live in August, is designed to give Arkansas teens a way to reach out to trained teen volunteers when they need support, encouragement or connection before a difficult moment becomes a crisis.

The need for the text line became clear after the Arkansas Crisis Center made chat and text options available for 988, a suicide and crisis helpline. In the first six weeks after introducing the chat and text feature, the center served more youth than it had in the previous year, said Debra Capps, Director of Advancement & Strategy at Arkansas Crisis Center.

After its launch on August 4, AR Teen Connect will be available Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Teens can text 479-558-9889 to reach the service.

While the first volunteers are based in Northwest Arkansas, the resource is intended for youth across the state. Program leaders hope to eventually expand through satellite peer support hubs so students from other Arkansas communities can be trained and involved.

Raelynn was drawn to the program because she understood what it can mean to need help but not know where to turn. She knows many young people face moments when they are struggling, but may not see their situation as an emergency.

“I know a lot of people who have been in situations where they’re not in a crisis, but they need support, and they don’t know where to get it,” Raelynn said. “That’s why I’m so excited about this, because having an in-between … it was just so appealing to me.”

That “in-between” is the heart of AR Teen Connect. It is not designed to replace emergency services or professional care. Instead, it offers a peer-to-peer place where teens can say they are having a hard day, feeling overwhelmed or needing someone to listen.

For many teens, texting may make that first step easier.

“Sometimes reaching out is already such a big step, and it seems very scary,” Raelynn said. “Being able to text someone seems a lot more effortless than picking up the phone and calling. We text all the time, so it’s not like you have to go out of your way.”

This summer, the program’s teen volunteers have spent more than 50 hours learning how to support their peers. Kelli Murray, director of operations for Arkansas Crisis Center and one of the program’s trainers, said the training includes active listening, de-escalation, identifying crisis situations, recognizing suicidal ideation and self-harm, understanding boundaries and practicing conversations on the text platform. Some volunteers also completed Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

Much of the work has been practice: learning how to ask thoughtful questions, how to respond without trying to “fix” situations, and how to make sure the person on the other end knows someone is paying attention.

Raelynn said the skills can sound simple until it is time to use them.

“Everything we’ve been learning has been so helpful,” she said. “When you’re actually practicing it, even in a fake conversation, it all comes back, and it makes more sense. You can kind of tell what’s helpful and what’s not.”

Supporting someone by text has its own learning curve, Raelynn said. Volunteers have to make sure they are engaged without overwhelming the person texting in and learn how active listening works when there is no tone of voice or facial expression to rely on.

“You want them to know that you are listening,” she said. “It’s a little tricky. There’s kind of a line, and you have to stay in between.”

The training has also changed Raelynn beyond the volunteer role. Before the training, she said she was social but anxious. Surrounded by other students who shared her passion for helping others, she found community and confidence.

“There are so many amazing people here, and they’re all very passionate,” she said.

She has noticed the difference in everyday life, too. Raelynn said she now finds herself having conversations with people in stores, listening more carefully to family members and recognizing how the skills she is learning can help in ordinary moments.

Kelli said that kind of growth is part of what leaders hoped the program would create. Even if volunteers do not pursue careers in mental health, they will leave with stronger communication skills, healthier boundaries and a deeper understanding of how to support the people around them.

For Raelynn, however, the program has strengthened a career goal that was already forming. She hopes to work in adolescent mental and behavioral health and eventually become a licensed therapist. She wants to help make care more accessible, especially for young people who may not know where to begin.

“Being a part of this has been like, well, it is a step,” Raelynn said. “Even a small step in a system that’s so flawed is a step. I think it’s huge.”

Debra said watching students like Raelynn grow has made the effort feel hopeful and energizing. The organization views AR Teen Connect not only as a resource for youth who need support, but also as a youth development program that can help young people build confidence, connection and leadership.

“Connection is our resource,” Debra said. “But it’s also the movement that we’re a part of.”

Debra said support from the Blue & You Foundation made it possible to build the training, prepare the students and create the structure needed to launch a brand-new program. Just as important, she said, the Foundation’s support served as a vote of confidence.

“It really has been the reason why we were able to do this, and quickly,” Debra said. “It didn’t start the idea, but it definitely created a pathway for us to do it.”

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Blue & You Foundation, 25 Weeks of Gratitude spotlights 25 stories of Arkansans whose lives have been impacted by Foundation-funded work.

*The Blue & You Foundation was established in 2001 through an initial gift from Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Since its inception, the Foundation’s financial base has grown through wise and prudent investment strategies. This has enabled the foundation to support its mission by making grants funded by the interest earned on those investments.