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Landecker Fellow Michael Zuch was interviewed for a Nashville Scene article focusing on mental health and the work of Girls Write Nashville, a nonprofit songwriting mentorship organization that works with female and nonbinary teens.
Michael provided commentary from the perspective of a licensed master social worker and clinical therapist.
In his eyes, the pandemic exacerbated mental health struggles of young people. “The problems are the same. They are just deeper than they were before,” he adds.
While Michael is happy that young people are now more politically engaged, he stresses that there is a cost. “They are dealing with these huge existential questions without having the tools in the community to process them thoroughly in the same way that we adults do,” Michael explains.
Therefore, Michael appreciates spaces like at Girls Write, which allow young people to “build the community they’re looking for.”
Learn more
- Read the article in full on this Nashville Scene page.
Michael is one of thirty 2022-2023 Landecker Democracy Fellows. This fellowship, a collaboration between the Alfred Landecker Foundation and Humanity in Action, was created to strengthen a new generation of leaders whose approaches to political and social challenges can become catalysts for democratic placemaking and community building. Read more about the fellowship here.
