Blue Boat: The shared voice of youth and young adult ministries of the Unitarian Universalist Association

Get Support

By Ted Resnikoff

HI EVERYBODY! We are your Youth Caucus peer chaplains, Kiernan and Nyana, and we can’t wait to meet you all in New Orleans in June! We, along with the rest of the Youth Caucus staff, are looking forward to working with all of you to provide logistical and spiritual support for you to grow and become more involved in Unitarian Universalism throughout the course of General Assembly (GA). Whether you’ve been to GA before or not, it can, and most likely will, at times be both exciting and overwhelming. That’s perfectly normal and we’re here to support you throughout this incredibly immersive experience! Here are some tips and resources that you can utilize at GA: A chaplain is someone for you to talk to. A sort of spiritually equipped peer mediator. We have training in listening, crisis intervention and non-directive helping. We are here to provide you with an outlet for feelings and a compassionate presence. We won’t give you advice to solve a problem, but rather we will listen to you and help you come up with solutions yourself. There are also amazing adult chaplains for Youth Caucus! They are Shari and Jordan and they’re super friendly and would love to talk with you at any time. You can call us anytime at GA at (857) 321-8697. This phone number will be active from June 21st through June 25th.

Come to a chaplain if. . .

  • you’re feeling lonely
  • you don’t know how to handle a situation
  • you’re really excited about all of the rad things going on at GA
  • you’re having difficulties with another GA attendee
  • you want to talk about a workshop
  • you want to talk about something that happened awhile ago but is still upsetting you
  • something scary just happened
  • something super great just happened!
  • you’re uncomfortable with something at GA
  • you have a conflict that you’d like us to bring up with the rest of the Youth Caucus Staff
  • you miss your parent/friend/significant other/pet
  • you’re worried about somebody
  • you just want someone to talk
We will have a Friend Ship table and Rose, Thorn, Bud wall in the Youth Caucus room you can visit anytime the space is open. These resources are a cool place to go if you’d like some company and you can:
  • play a game!
  • draw a picture!
  • write something to put on the Rose, Thorn, Bud Wall or the Meetup Board!
  • meet up for a meal!
  • find new friends!
  • Make a public statement of gratitude!
  • Make a statement that goes directly to chaplains, either anonymously or not!
  • Build radically inclusive community, together!

Self care…

  • GA is a marathon not a sprint, pace yourself
  • don’t feel like you have to do everything, but try some new things!
  • drink water, eat, take showers, brush your teeth
  • check in with your sponsor, let them know if there’s anything they can do to help better your GA experience
  • let the Youth Caucus Staff know if there’s anything they can do to help improve your experience at GA
  • take time to sleep! Programming starts early and ends late and we want to be energized throughout!
  • talk to someone post-programming or whenever you feel you need to debrief
It's been a difficult, stressful, and in some ways, transformative year for many of us. Youth Caucus chaplains are here specifically for the spiritual and emotional support of youth at GA, but we also want to let you know about a few other resources for support. Even if you can do it ALL yourself, it never hurts to get support when you need (or want) it.