Alexander Youth Network (Alexander) provides quality professional treatment to children with serious emotional and behavioral problems and delivers an effective and efficient array of services, enabling children and their families to exercise self-determination, achieve their potential, and become positive contributors to society.  Alexander is the most comprehensive provider of mental & behavioral health services for children across North Carolina. We serve children ages 5-21 suffering from trauma-related mental and behavioral health problems that affect their ability to function successfully in their homes, schools, and communities. Our strategy is to be the “whole solution” for kids’ mental health by utilizing trauma-informed, evidence-based practices and providing a full array of behavioral health services. The array currently includes: Facility-Based Crisis Care, Psychiatric Residential Treatment, Day Treatment, Therapeutic Foster Care, Intensive In-Home, Multi-Systemic Therapy, Substance Use Treatment, Outpatient Therapy, Clinical Assessments, and Care Management.

We are currently in the design process of a campus renovation to improve the environment of care for the children we serve. The individual who is our intern would work in conjunction with our designer to come up with the design and overall rendering of the mural to ensure that it is cohesive with the rest of our remodel. The design portion on the internship could be remote, but the execution of the mural would be fully in-person. Ideally, we want a student who can work independently, is creative and has an interest in children’s mental health. We would want them to have a vision for what positive self-talk means for children who are experiencing mental and behavioral health challenges.

During their internship, the student will be a partner in all phases of development and implementation of the words of affirmation/positive self-talk mural. They will gain experience in working with all types of people within a diverse organization including our designer, marketing department, direct care staff, and cafeteria staff. They will also be able to spend time interacting with children aged 5-13 who live and attend school on our campus.  At the completion of their internship, we hope to have a beautiful mural that enhances the beauty of our campus and creates a positive, cheerful and hopeful environment for our children to thrive. For the intern, we hope they have gained valuable experience and further insight into children’s mental health and the importance of the work our agency does.